Forever Fornever II
by The Crystal Hand Alchemists
Summary: FF SQL Sometimes, the price is just too high, no matter how much you may want the prize. The one thing you cannot trade for your heart's desires...is your heart. COMPLETE
1. The Calm Before the Storm

DISCLAIMER: I don't own any YYH stuff and I won't through the rest of this fic

And to Umeko Saito: I wouldn't have it any other way than with a little Kurama/Mai/Yusuke: D

And so, without further ado, I give you Fire Angel!

_Thoughts_

'_Kira'_

_Fire Angel_

:The Calm Before the Storm:

_Two Months Later_

Light danced across the stage and music echoed through the audience. A girl twirled across the floor to the beat of the tranquil song. She wore a flowing, flamenco-styled gown dyed in a deep red. Her crimson hair was plaited elegantly on top of her head (and luckily shielding her curiously pointed ears from the onlookers).

The dancer spun gracefully between the pillars of light as the captivated audience watched her every move. Her skirt swished around her legs as the silk ribbons from her waist twirled.

Near the back of the auditorium, five others watched the girl as she danced elegantly with the music.

Kuwabara leaned over towards the boy next to him, "You know, Mai looks pretty hot, Urameshi—"

Yusuke sent him a dangerous glare, "Shut...up," he threatened and showed him his fist, "Or you'll be watching the show in the hospital room..." he said, "Besides, she's Kurama's girlfriend..."

"Hey dimwit, will you two shut up?" Genkai hissed from down the row.

The Detective scowled and folded his arms just as the song ended.

Mai spread her arms out in from of her and swept them forward in an elaborate bow. The audience applauded and some even rose from the seats for an ovation. The dancer smiled brightly as she listened to the applause filling the air.

The five also rose, but made their way along the side of the auditorium towards the back-stage entrance.

The entered the stage just as Mai appeared from behind the curtains. Her cheeks were flushed and her heels clicked on the wood flooring.

"Kurama-kun!" she exclaimed and almost immediately flung her arms around his neck, giving him a quick—but affectionate—peck on the cheek. She turned to the other four when she caught sight of them, "And you guys came too!"

Botan grinned, "We wouldn't miss it! Except for Hiei, that is..." she added with a slight fade of her smile.

Mai beamed with excitement as she brushed a strand of hair out of her eyes, "I'm just surprised Yusuke made it."

The Detective crossed his arms, "Yeah, well it wasn't as though it was of my free will..." he grumbled, but the dancer playfully nudged him in the shoulder with her fists.

"Aw, Yusuke, I knew you cared!" she laughed.

He muttered something inaudible as the girl continued to grin.

"Let me just get my coat and I'll meet you all around the front, okay?" she chirped as she started to prance off.

The others agreed and after about five minutes, she came racing down the steps towards the group.-

"Ready!" she called. When she reached them, she soon found herself walking beside Kurama and the pair timidly wrapped their hands around one another. Yusuke watched them from the corner of his eye distastefully.

They hadn't gone ten feet however, when Mai felt a sudden chill race down her spine. She glanced around warily half-expecting to see the others looking too. Even after two months, her Spirit Awareness was still growing, but she was surprised that Kuwabara hadn't sensed it too; he was supposed to be the one with "the tingle"...

_Odd..._she thought.

But—there it was again! Her eyes darted warily around her and at the crowd exiting the school. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary, though...

She sighed, _Too much stress—_

Suddenly, her eyes locked onto the center of the crowd. She knew it was there, she just couldn't see it...but it was there nonetheless.

"Mai? Is something wrong?"

The dancer turned swiftly towards Kurama and forced a smile, "I'm alright..." she told him innocently.

:1:-

Mai massaged her heels gingerly back in the spare bedroom. With both dance and training, she was completely fatigued. And tossing her outfit onto her chair, she quietly curled up under her covers.

She still couldn't shake the feeling that someone was there earlier; watching her and the others. It wasn't an aggressive sense, just an eerie one that seemed to constantly unnerve her.

She sighed heavily and plopped her head on her pillow when she suddenly remembered she had a History test the next day (A/N:shudders:)

"Crap..." she murmured wearily.

:1:-

Mai's PoV

"Yusuke..." I whined irritably as I kicked the Detective out of bed, "Come on, wake up or we're going to be late!"

He mumbled something into his pillow and turned his back towards me.

I groaned, "Get your lazy ass up and out of bed, Urameshi!" I demanded, but still he didn't stir. I thought for a moment before sighing overdramatically, "Well, I guess Genkai can always beat the crap out of you in training..."

Yusuke growled as he tossed the bed sheets off of him, "Alright, alright...just give me another minute or so..." he yawned.

I sighed in exasperation this time as I went to go stand out in the hall. It took another five minutes or so before he left his room. Immediately, I grasped his wrist and dragged him through the house.

"But I haven't had breakfast..." he complained weakly.

"Fine!" I snapped and shoved some random food into his hand, "Here's a bagel; eat it on the way."

He groaned and trudged after me slowly as I swung my backpack over my shoulder. The Detective seemed to purposely drag his feet as we made our way down the hill in front of the temple.

"Hurry up, Yusuke! Botan and Kuwabara are waiting for us!"

The boy yawned, "Yeah, whatever..."

I sighed with frustration as I turned and grabbed him by the collar. He didn't have time to protest as I towed him down the path. When I did finally let go, we had already come across the road.

"Jeeze, why are you so mad all of a sudden?" he asked lazily.

"Because I haven't had any sleep for the past week and I have a damn test today," I muttered as I stormed off down the sidewalk.

Yusuke tried to stifle a yawn, "Well maybe if you didn't stay out so late with Kurama you wouldn't be so tired..."

I whirled on him, "Excuse me?"

He shrugged, "I'm just saying that you spend a little too much time with him..."

"Well you're the one to talk, Urameshi; you seem to spend a lot of your time with Keiko..." I returned with an icy glare. This had to be the hundredth time since Kurama and I started going out that Yusuke had brought up the subject.

But he didn't answer and instead turned his head away.

I stopped and turned to him; his silence catching my attention, "Yusuke?"

"...Keiko and I…are just friends now..." he said quietly.

I felt my body go numb and I bit my lip nervously, "I...I'm sorry, I didn't know..."

The Detective shrugged again, "Yeah, well...I didn't want her to get hurt again; it just wouldn't have worked out."

_Again?_ I fell silent and looked down at my feet.

But before either of us could say anymore, a blast of wind whipped around us. I cried out slightly as my skirt began to fly upwards and I swiftly pulled it back down.

"Dammit, Hiei!" I told him as I tucked a strand of hair behind my ear, "Do you always have to do that?"

"Hn," the apparition replied and turned to the Detective, holding out a little black tape, "The baka from the Spirit World wanted me to give this to you," he muttered.

And as soon as Yusuke took the tape from him, Hiei was gone.

I cocked my eyebrow as I studied the video, "Do you think he meant Koenma?"

Urameshi shrugged carelessly and tossed the cassette into his bag, "Yeah, probably..."

:1:-

About seven hours later (A/N: I'm not quite sure how long school is over in Japan, but that's about how long it is for me...) Botan, Yusuke, Kuwabara and Mai left the school traveling together in their little group. The two girls followed slightly behind the boys as they made their way towards Kazuma's house.

"Man, I think I bombed that test..." Mai mumbled sadly as she dragged her bag along the pavement.

Botan forced a reassuring grin, "Don't worry about it; if you did, I can always help you study!" she laughed and then whispered in her ear, "But then again, you might want to have Kurama help you instead!"

The dancer blushed as her face turned the color of her hair. Ahead of them, Yusuke quickly glanced backwards, but then returned his attention to the ground in front of him.

"So, Urameshi...what's with the tape anyway?" Kuwabara asked when he noticed the video in the Detective's hand.

He shrugged, "I dunno...Hiei came along this morning and handed it off to me. But I guess we'll figure it out sooner or later."

"Yeah, but remember your promise, Urameshi;" he told him, "I'm not going to be apart of any more of these missions, got it? Personally, don't wanna try and get my head blown off again—damn Byakko was one pain in the ass..." he muttered as an afterthought.

"Yeah, yeah..." Yusuke replied calmly, "If you're backing out, there's always Mai..."

And hearing her name, the girl smiled at the two of them and gave them the thumbs-up. Kazuma's face fell slightly and mumbled something that sounded like 'Well you don't have to replace me...'

It took another minute or so before the group made their way to Kuwabara's house. The red-head readied the VCR with the tape as the other three settled down around the TV. Kazuma pressed a button and quickly scooted back to a place on the ground.

The screen was blank for a moment beforethere was some cheesy background music and the words: KOENMA VISION appeared on the television. They all sweatdropped.

Koenma's face then appeared on the screen (A/N: I haven't seen this episode before so I sort of have to improvise so don't get mad, please).

"I have a new assignment for you all," the toddler said as the screen flashed and showed a picture of a mansion in the center of some sort of forest, "A mafia boss by the name of Tarukane has taken the ice apparition, Yukina, hostage..." his voice told them as the screen changed again.

This time, it was a screenshot of a young girl with pale blue hair and deep red eyes. She sat behind what appeared to be a caged window at the top of the mansion they had just seen.

Immediately however, Kuwabara glued his face to the screen (almost literally) as drool oozed from the corner of his mouth, "She's...pretty..." he droned

Mai rolled her eyes and gripped him by the ear, pulling him back down, "Down boy," she told him as Koenma started talking again.

"Yukina has the ability to transform her tears into priceless jewels and therefore Tarukane is planning to use the gems to make his fortune—"

Kuwabara suddenly leapt to his feet as he clenched his fists, "That bastard!" he cried so loudly causing everyone else to sweat-drop, "I'll make him pay for doing this to my beloved Yukina!"

"Uh, Kuwabara—?" Botan started

But the red-head had already ran—more like pranced, however—out the door even though the tape continued to roll.

"However," the toddler continued, "There is a little bit of a catch..." he said as his face reappeared on the TV, "Yukina is also Hiei's sister and therefore he must not know about her. Knowing him, he'd be bound to killing anyone that got in his way...

"It's your job to rescue Yukina and make sure that Tarukane is stopped."

The screen went black then as the remaining three looked at one another.

Kuwabara's sister, Shizuru, however stood quietly in the doorway holding the tray of tea she was going to bring in to them. Although, her eyes remained on the T.V. screen they had been watching as a puff of smoke rose from the cigarette in her mouth. After a moment, she merely rolled her eyes; Kazuma was always being weird...something like this wasn't anything new (after all there was that time where she could have sworn she saw him flying out the window with that blue haired girl).

"Here we go again..." Yusuke sighed.

:1:-

A/N: okay, well I'm running out of ideas and it's getting late. I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter so far and I'll try and update soon!

Ciao!


	2. Lamenting Beauty

DISCLAIMER: nope. No YYH stuff...

A/N: well, I have to thank all of you who reviewed for understanding. And I'm sorry if you still don't care for the pairing, but if it counts as anything, I will put a bit of Mai/Kurama fluff in for awhile...

Ps: but I do have to admit that there will be just a _little bit_ of fluffiness between Mai and Yusuke as well...

_Thoughts/Dreams_ (for this chapter)

'_Kira'_

_Fire Angel_

:Lamenting Beauty:

Kuwabara marched ahead of the group proudly and constantly crying out promises of his love to his Yukina. The other three only watched in agitation as the red-head continued to frighten the poor birds from the trees.

"How long is he going to keep doing this?" Mai asked as she leaned on the golden-wrought staff in her hands, "I mean does he _really_ have to wear that thing on his head?" She persisted to question about the pink bandana with a giant heart on it.

Botan sighed as if she were embarrassed for him, "Probably not..."

"Hey!" the red-head barked ahead of them, "Hurry it up back there!" he placed his hands on his hips proudly (A/N: is that even possible?), "Kazuma, Warrior of Love must rescue his precious Yukina!" and he pointed onwards.

Yusuke slapped his head, "Just shoot me now..." he grumbled.

The Guardian stepped next to him and put a hand on his shoulder, "Well let's just think of the bright side, Urameshi; the sooner we get there, the sooner you can beat the crap out of any demons you find!" she grinned reassuringly, her violet-speckled eyes shining merrily.

He stared at her curiously before smiling back and giving her a quick thumbs-up. She did the same and continued after Kuwabara, her staff clinking against the earth. Yusuke watched her go almost sadly as he watched her crimson hair swish from side to side. What the hell?

:2:-

Night eventually crept forth from the corners of the world, swallowing the forest around them in an inky blackness. A fading fire crackled in the center of a clearing as the moon and stars twinkled above.

Mai leaned back lazily against the trunk of a dying tree several feet off the ground. She watched as wisps of cloud passed across the moon. It was her turn to take up watch, though it wasn't as if she could sleep anyway...

She tugged her blanket closer around her shoulders as a night chill kicked up. Kuwabara's snoring could be heard below and he mumbled something about his undying love for Yukina.

_Man_, she thought, _When that guy's obsessed, he's really obsessed..._

The girl sighed and felt her ears twitch with each movement around her. She irritably clamped her hands over them. Ever since her demon powers had been awakened, all of her senses had pricked up and it was driving her insane. She could swear that she could almost sense someone's thoughts, especially Yusuke's.

Figures, she was his Guardian anyway; it was probably natural for her senses to be keener with him...

But it was driving her crazy!

She groaned and tucked her knees up to her chin and stared into the blackness beyond the campsite. But even though it was far off, she could feel the energy of a demon...of what demon, though, she didn't know...

Beneath her, she heard a slight rustling and peered at the ground below.

"You should be sleeping, Yusuke..." she told him drearily, "It's not your watch for another two hours..."

The Detective shrugged, "I couldn't sleep," he replied simply.

Mai tugged her blanket around her as the cool breeze whipped around her. He looked up at her from the ground and she gave him a puzzled, but weary look.

"What?" she asked.

"Nothing..." he said quickly.

She narrowed her eyes, "Don't tell me it's 'nothing'" she said almost menacingly.

Urameshi shrugged again, "You just looked kind of lonely up there..."

Shelaughed softly as if that was all, "Would you like to join me then?" she offered, "You'd have to stay up twice as late, though..."

The boy returned the grin, "Ah, well...it doesn't matter I suppose; Kuwabara wouldn't let me sleep anyway with all his constant babbling about Yukina..."

Mai laughed again as she carefully lowered herself onto the ground so that she was level with him. She clutched the wool blanket around her shoulders as her hair gently billowed around her. The Detective couldn't help notice the way that the moon shimmered off her eyes. He shook his head as the thought crossed his mind.

_Whoa, that was creepy..._he thought.

The Guardian sat down along the base of the tree and Yusuke followed her lead. They sat in a silence for a moment before he cleared his throat.

"So...I hear Genkai's been teaching you a new technique..." he said casually as he placed his hands behind his head.

She cocked her head towards him, "Yeah, so?"

"Can I see it?" he asked teasingly.

The girl smirked as he gave her a puppy-dog look, "It's too late," she insisted, "I'll show you later or something when we run into a demon..." She yawned and closed her eyes, leaning her head against the tree, "I don't have enough energy tonight..."

Yusuke sighed in pretend exasperation, "Fine—"

He froze, however, when Mai's head suddenly fell onto his shoulder. Yusuke glanced towards her to find that she had fallen asleep as her chest rose and fell. He smiled slightly and carefully lifted her head and placed it gently against the tree trunk. The girl stirred slightly, but merely curled deeper beneath her blanket.

Yusuke then lifted himself onto the tree limb above and settled on the branch to begin his watch for the night...

:2:-

Mai's PoV

_I could hear the low murmuring of voices nearby...it was eerie in the fact that no one appeared to be anywhere near me..._

_They were men's voices coming from a nearby study. Within the room, I noticed a tall glass-pane window stretching to the ceiling; the pale dawn light cascading over the bleak and lonely room._

_There was a man, tall and dark, sitting in an armchair. He wore a pair of sunglasses over his eyes, but one could already tell either way that his features were cold and hard. Beside him—or rather perched on his shoulder—was another man...or so it appeared to be. This man was smaller than the first, but nonetheless more frightening. His beady black eyes roamed over the room while is pasty white skin made it appear as though he was some sort of living corpse._

_A third man paced back and forth through the study. He was stouter than the other two, but his small dark eyes reflected the greed within him._

_The stouter of the three continued to pace as he mumbled to himself for several minutes. It was only until he froze and an evil light sparkled in his eyes did he finally stop._

"_I know..." he whispered as a thought crossed his mind, "The intruders; what if I were to let those of the council bet on either them or my demons!" he laughed maliciously, "Yes, yes...Those unsuspecting fools in the forest don't know what I have waiting for them!"_

"_I would not be so quick to judge them," the first man said rather calmly, "You obviously don't know what kind of powers they possess..."_

_The third man whirled on him, his face growing red, "I did not ask for your opinion, Toguro," he told the other harshly, "How would four mere teenagers be able to withstand an army of demons?"_

_Toguro—as he was called—folded his hands calmly, "You'd be surprised, Tarukane—"_

I jumped suddenly out of sleep. My head struck the tree behind me and I cursed softly as rubbed it gingerly.

Sunlight peeked through the trees and danced along the dew-covered earth. Even the blanket around my shoulders was damp and I shook it off quickly before I stood to my feet. The dying fire remained nothing but ash and Botan and Kuwabara continued to sleep.

Curiosity overcame me as I glanced around looking for Yusuke. I found him quickly, however, when my eyes fell on the Detective sleeping on the tree limb above me.

I tried desperately to force down a grin, but failed horribly when I caught sight of the little line of drool oozing from the corner of his mouth. I shook my head; he was so innocent when he was sleeping, I thought with a small laugh.

After I had found my staff nearby, I quietly snuck out of the campsite when I made sure none of my companions had seen me leave.

I came to a stop after I had gone a little further out from the others. I sighed when I remembered that Genkai had made me promise to try out my 'new technique' every day—which, I might have had to add, was quite a pain.

Taking my staff in my right hand, I crossed my arms over my chest. My left hand remained outstretched with each finger extended away from one another. I breathed deeply as I closed my eyes; blocking out any distractions around me.

I cleared my mind; erasing all other thoughts as I felt the energy pulsing through me. I called it forth from all parts of my body; from my blood, and even from the tips of my toes. I squinted through my eyelids to watch as the silver veins coursing through the staff began to glow a pale pink color. The tips of my fingers also began to give off a soft glow as I readied myself.

Already, though, I felt my energy beginning to drain as I moved into the next part of the technique.

The pink glow grew brighter until it was nearly white and I carefully drew it out from within me; creating three vivid rings around my body. I heard the air around me crackle as sweat began to perspire along my brow.

_Dammit..._I cursed mentally; I couldn't keep it up and I felt my power quickly draining.

I let out a gasp as I reclaimed the attack. The force entering me was so strong that I shuddered and collapsed to my knees.

I stared at the earth as I heaved in the air around me. I clenched the grass in my fists angrily.

"Dammit," I cursed myself this time, "Why won't it work!"

Growling, I pushed a strand of my crimson hair out of my eyes and shakily stood. I had to lean on my staff for support, however when I realized that the technique had drained me considerably.

'_Calm down, Mai, you're doing fine...'_ came the familiar voice from the back of my mind.

"Long time no see," I replied weakly, "Where have you been, Kira?" I inquired to the voice.

I could sense her shrug, _'Just around,' _she said with a small laugh, _'And watching you too, I guess. But really, Mai, you don't have to kick yourself about it; it's a new technique, you'll get the hang of it sooner or later.'_

"Well it's been later," I told her irritably as I started forward, "I don't understand why I can't control it!"

Kira laughed softly, _'Don't worry about it!'_ she insisted, _'I don't think I would have been able to do as well if I had been training for even a month! You should be proud of how far you've come!'_

I sighed, "Yeah, well...how am I supposed to be Yusuke's Guardian if I can't even muster the strength to fire an attack?"

It took a moment before the former Guardian replied, _'It will all pay off soon...' _she said rather quietly. I sent her a mentally quizzical look for her odd change of mood.

"What's that supposed to mean?" I questioned.

I sensed her doing a Botan (A/N: you know where she's deep in thought then she suddenly becomes all perky again?) as she laughed nervously, _'Nothing, nothing...'_ she insisted, _'I was just thinking.'_

"Fine, whatever," I told her while shaking off the last remark, before a thought crossed my mind, "Hey, Kira? Did you sense that demon last night too?"-

She was back in her solemn-mode—I could tell, _'Yes, but just barely...'_

"Do you know what it was?"

'_No...' _she replied sadly, _'Listen, just be careful, Mai...I'll stay in touch.'_

And I felt her presence flee from my mind. I sighed, and using my staff as a walking stick, I carefully made my way back towards camp.

Even before I saw them, I could hear Kuwabara ordering Botan and Yusuke around, forcing them to kick it up a notch so they could hurry and start for the day.

"Hey Mai!" Botan called when I reappeared from behind the trees, "Where have you been?"

I shrugged casually, "I just needed to take a walk," I lied and helped myself to one of the leftover breakfast bars from our supply bag. I didn't have time to sit down and rest for even a moment before Kazuma rounded us up and marched off towards Tarukane's mansion.

:2:-

Hey, sorry it sucked though—once again, I started this fic awhile back so it's still a little choppy (and I'm too lazy to go back and fix it.)

Ciao!


	3. Tarukane's Mansion

DISCLAIMER: I don't own any YYH stuff, nope! But despite that I am following the basic storyline of the series, this plot is my own and so are my original characters. SO NO STEALING, YOU HEAR!

A/N: well, after a rather crappy day at school I'd have to say that I'm ready to express my anger through my writing...Please don't get scared though!

Please enjoy the next chapter! Once again, I haven't seen this part in the series for awhile (AND STUPID CARTOON NETWORK TOOK IT OFF THE AIR! GRRRR) so don't yell at me if my account isn't entirely accurate; I tried to gather everything I could from episode summaries from the internet.

PS: sorry if it sucks; when I wrote this I wasn't all that good at fight-scenes, so just try and use your imaginations as best as possible :nervous laugh:

Enjoy!

_Thoughts_

'_Kira'_

_Fire Angel_

:Tarukane's Mansion:

"It's just up ahead!" Botan called from above them as she lay seated on her oar. The others waited as she touched down on the ground—all save for Kuwabara, that is. He was already charging off in the direction of the mansion.

"Yukina!" he cried.

"Kuwabara, wait up!" Botan yelled after him, but he was already gone, "Doesn't he realized that he hasn't even met her yet?"

"Crap," Yusuke muttered as he watched the red-head prance off towards his beloved Yukina, "Well come on..." he told the remaining two as he gestured after the infatuated baka.

"Man this is so boring!" Mai grumbled to herself as the trio hurried off after Kazuma, "I mean, all the demons we've come across are completely weak; why can't that Tarukane guy send us more of a challenge? Like something that would take some effort to kill..." (A/N: ahhh! Be careful of what you wish for!)

Urameshi flexed his fingers lazily, "Yeah, well I guess you can take it as a good sign that this will be an easy mission..." he yawned casually and placed his hands behind his head.

"Don't jinx it, Yusuke," the Guardian warned with a laugh and teasingly knocked him over the head with her staff, "You don't want to get over your head with all of this, do you?"

He rubbed his scalp, pretending that it hurt. Mai laughed and swung the golden rod over her shoulders as they continued to follow after Kuwabara.

"Aw, suck it up!" she giggled with the tilt of her head; the Detective suddenly felt his ears burning red and turned his head away. The girl laughed again and instinctively, she spun around once or twice in a circle as if to release the temptation of all-out dancing entirely.

The pair was silent for a moment as they listened to Kazuma's far off shouting for Yukina. Mai smiled slightly as she watched a group of sparrows flutter from out of one of the trees.

"He's cute like that, you know?" she thought aloud absently, "I think it's just sort of sweet how he's fallen for Yukina; it's one of those love-at-first-sight things, right?" she smiled inattentively and let her eyes be drawn to the sky.

The Detective cocked an eyebrow in her direction, "You're weird, you know that?"

She gave him a teasing scowl, "Yeah, well you are too," she returned and punched him in the arm.

It wasn't long though, before they came across Kuwabara standing at the edge of the forest.

"What's the hold up?" Yusuke asked as he stepped next to his friend.

The red-head's confidence was considerably lessened by the look on his face, yet there was a strong hint of determination. And the rest of them knew why when they reached the forest border.

"The good news..." Mai stated calmly, "Is that Tarukane's mansion is just a stroll away. The bad news," she said with a smirk, "Is we have a hoard of demons in our way..."

"Is that supposed to be a bad thing?" Kazuma questioned jokingly.

The Guardian laughed in amusement, "No," she turned to the boy beside her, "What about you, Yusuke? Are you in?"

Urameshi smirked, "Hell yeah," he said and clenched his fists. The other two grinned and readied themselves as well as the demons before them began to charge.

Mai smiled as she took a step forward, "Finally!" she exclaimed.

:3:-

Not even three or four minutes later, the group emerged from the midst of the flames that no burned along the alls of the mansion, much to Tarukane's dismay.

"They...They've made it passed my demons!" he stammered in disbelief as his beady black eyes lingered on the security screen.

"It appears as though your wealth is waning, Tarukane..." came a cool voice.

He swiftly turned his head to face the other gamblers on the screens. One of them in particular—Sakyo—the one man who had—despite his army of demons—bet on the intruders and won every time.

The mafia boss was now down to almost literally his last penny. His greedy eyes swiveled and fell on the two demons behind him.

"Another bet?" he offered as he switched his attention to the screen, "The intruders against two of my strongest demons?"

A murmur of amusement rippled through the gamblers.

"Two of your strongest, you say?" one said in pleasure.

Another chuckled, "It's almost like giving us the money, Tarukane, and you hardly have any left!"

But on the far left screen, Sakyo folded his hands casually, "I bet two-million on the intruders," he said calmly.

Tarukane's face paled considerably as another wave of murmurs swept over them.

"On the intruders?" the boss repeated cautiously. His brow furrowed angrily as he turned to the duo behind him, his eyes narrowing dangerously, "Kill them all..." he told them rather darkly...just as a sly smirk crawled onto Sakyo's face.

:3:-

Mai stretched pleasantly as they crossed the courtyard, "Well that was a nice little warm-up!" she said, her cheerfulness coming back to her. But once again, Kuwabara was about ready to race off towards his beloved Yukina that is until Botan swiftly grasped him by the collar.

"Hold on there, Kazuma," she warned, "I wouldn't go barging in there if I were you—"

"She's close though..." the red-head told them seriously, "I can sense her nearby!"

And with that he raced off towards the mansion as the other three called after him, and also ran towards the front doors.

But no sooner had the four of them burst through the entrance, did they freeze.

They stood at the beginning of a long hallway that was rather lavishly decorated with fine paintings and furniture along the all. But it wasn't the grandness of the home that stopped them, but the demon waiting for them. A horn protruded from their skull and they brandished a whip before them.

It was a female demon (A/N: or so they think...LoL) and the four of them watched her curiously as her blood-red eyes narrowed.

"You are not allowed to pass," she said coolly, "_I_—Miyuki—and my other companion will make sure of that." (a/n: jeeze, that sounded corny, gomen everyone)

Yusuke smirked and stepped forward to battle the demon as the others waited behind him.

"You shouldn't fight girls, Urameshi," Kazuma told him as he eyed the demon carefully.

Mai whirled on him and smacked him upside the head, "Shut up, Kuwabara!" she hissed, "Let him fight; it's a demon, who cares!"

"But you're not supposed to hit girls!" he protested, glaring at her.

"You two stop arguing!" Yusuke snapped without looking at them as he placed himself in the ready stance. Immediately the pair silenced themselves but not before giving each other angry glares. The Detective rolled his eyes, "This is already taking too long!"

Then, as if the demon took that as a cue, both she and Urameshi charged at one another. An instant later, they were both hovering in the air, getting ready to attack one another. But when the time came for them to make contact, the she-demon's flight-path was cut short and she fell back to the ground.

Angrily, she whirled on the detective, "Pervert!" she screamed.

Botan, Mai, and Kuwabara all blinked, _what the hell?_

She stood while she continued to fume. And then, from the side of her head, she began to pull at a strand of her hair. By the time it was long enough to suffice her, the demon unexpectedly lashed out at Yusuke with it. The "whip" wrapped quickly around his neck and Miyuki hurled him across the room then into the ground.

"Yusuke!"

"Aw crap," the Detective muttered while he attempted to loosen the whip's hold with his hands.

She glared at him dangerously as the Detective raised the only hand he could spare in front of him, his fist beginning to glow a light blue. The demon backed off slightly and before he could fire, she leapt up into the air; crashing through the ceiling. In the same motion, Urameshi was suddenly lifted into the air while Miyuki began to swing him back and forth like a human pendulum. From below him, Kuwabara suddenly blinked as he realized something.

"I told you that you can't hit girls, Urameshi! And now you're groping them too!" the red-head demanded.

"What!" both Mai and Botan choked out and nearly did a synchronized face-falter together, "What the hell are you talking about, Kazuma? He didn't even touch her!" the guardian reminded him.

Kuwabara's face went a bright red shade and instead of saying it aloud, he whispered it to both the girls' ears.

"Wait, how did manage that so quickly?" Botan asked, bewildered, "I didn't even see him do it—"

"You what?Yusuke, you really are a perv!" Mai screamed at the detective, "This is what you deserve!" she added, implying the fact that he was now facing the fact that he might choke to death.

"I don't have time for this!" he grunted in frustration and turned to the guardian (though, he was kind of doing that anyway), "Mai, can I get some help here?"

She put a hand on her hip, "Why would I do that?" she challenged, but he sent her an angry glare and she rolled her eyes, "All right, all right," she sighed, although everyone could tell that she couldn't help but grin as she took up her staff. She raced towards Urameshi and leapt above the whip hanging from the ceiling, her staff swinging down onto it. And as if the rod were a blade, the vine snapped and the Detective was freed.

From above, the she-demon cried out as she lost her balance and stumbled through the opening in the ceiling. Yusuke rubbed his neck gingerly as Mai helped him to his feet.

The detective glowered angrily at his opponent, "I've had enough of this," he said while the she-demon recovered. Miyuki glared at him furiously and without giving any warning, she charged one again at Urameshi.

But when it looked as though Yusuke was going to throw a punch at the demon, his hand abruptly latched onto her right breast.

Kazuma—in short—freaked, "WAAAAAAAAAAHH! Urameshi! What the hell is wrong with you?"

"Okay, we get it, Yusuke!" Mai yelled frantically, "You can stop that now!"

But while the detective started to descend from his "attack" his hand then found its way to her :cough: _lower parts_.

All three of his companions paled as if they were going to be sick. Mai slapped her hand to her head in an attempted to remove the image from her memory.

Urameshi finished with a roll across the floor and soon after stood. He dusted himself off and walked over towards Miyuki and—almost casually—kneed her in the stomach. Without waiting for her to make a revival, he lifted her above his head and promptly crashed the demon into one of the nearby walls.

Once more, the detective dusted himself off as Kazuma nearly exploded in his face, "Urameshi! What the hell is wrong with you!" he demanded furiously, "I should beat the crap out of you right about now—!"

"Don't bother," Yusuke told him, "Something wasn't right about _her_, so I did a little checking," this comment caused a line of sweatdrops to form on his companions (what was so _little_ about that?). After glancing back at Miyuki, he gave them all and 'OK' sign, "The good news is, is that the family jewels haven't been stolen—"

"What the hell are you talking about, Yusuke?" Mai yelled as she frantically hit him over the head with Kira's staff, "I thought it was bad enough when I heard you did this kind of stuff to Keiko—!"

"Ow! Dammit, I meant Miyuki's a guy, alright!" he insisted and whacked the staff away, "Something didn't feel right so I _checked_ and 'she' turned out to be a 'he'!" he rubbed his scalp and muttered, "Damn…you probably have a stronger hit than Keiko…"

Kuwabara frowned, however and folded his arms over his chest. His eyes found Miyuki's body nearby and he cocked an eyebrow curiously. Obviously, he wasn't all too convinced of Urameshi's story. But as he started to lift the demon's skirt, Botan quickly pulled out her oar and struck him over the head.

"Don't even think about it," she warned the redhead twitching on the ground. While Mai—still a bit shaken by Yusuke's "tactics"—glanced around their surroundings and noticed a security camera along one of the walls. With a grin she pointed it out to the detective and the others.

On instinct, all four of them gathered at the base of the camera and grinned smugly up at the lens, each of them holding up a finger.

Urameshi laughed, "There's only one more left, Tarukane you bastard!" he shouted at the camera.

There was a pause before Kuwabara blinked, "Hey…I sense Yukina nearby!" he told them excitedly and hurried down the hall with everyone else following behind.

It wasn't long however, before Mai suddenly cried out from behind the group. Everyone turned to find the Guardian seated on the ground as if she had fallen.

"Mai, what happened—?"

"That bastard stole my staff!" she exclaimed angrily and pointed forward. The others followed her gaze to come across a shorter demon with a cloth wrapped around his head just ahead of them. In his hand was Mai's staff, and even beneath the fabric, the group sensed him smirk as he cackled dangerously. He wore a pair of gloves, each with three spikes protruding into the air.

The girl growled, "Give me back my staff, dammit!" she barked.

He snickered and suddenly disappeared from sight.

"Hey!" she cried and jumped to her feet. The demon reappeared a moment later a little further down from the group. Mai clenched her teeth angrily as he started to snicker once more, "You just messed with the wrong girl," she muttered darkly.

The Guardian made a move to chase after him, but once more the demon vanished. Mai stood ready and waited for him to reappear. However, the speed-type demon suddenly materialized directly in front of her. She winced in anticipation of his attack, but found that it never came. Instead, a grunt of pain issued from next to her and she glanced up to find Urameshi standing beside her as a protective shield.

"Y-Yusuke?" she whispered a bit surprised.

"Heh, don't worry, it wasn't that hard of an attack," the detective insisted through gritted teeth and grinned.

As he backed away, it became apparent that the demon had disappeared again and was now at the end of the hallway. Mai bit her lip with she noticed—shallow as it was—a wound across Yusuke's back from the blow he had taken for her.

Urameshi stood in a stance to face the demon and clenched his fists at his side, "So do you want your staff back, Mai?" he asked a bit too casually, but didn't wait for her answer.

"Hey, Urameshi, be careful!" Kuwabara warned, "I can't even sense him he's moving so fast!"

And no sooner had he said this than the little man appeared in front of him and attempted to hit him. The Spirit Detective ducked as the demon vanished. He ran quickly a little further down the corridor, but still the demon followed.

Yusuke stood for a moment and looked around the hallway where the demon continued to zip in and out of sight before turning back to the group with a smirk on his face, "Just stay here!" he called as he raced after him. The other three furrowed their brows in confusion as the Detective turned down a hallway.

It wasn't two seconds before a sudden Spirit Gun attack erupted down the other corridor, obliterating anything and everything in its path. A moment or two later, Yusuke returned with his hand holding onto the golden staff

"I think I got him," was all his said. Mai glowered and took the rod away from him, rolling her eyes. Yusuke smiled gently as the girl shoved him.

"You're just lucky that I'm your Guardian, Yusuke," she said almost angrily and crossed her arms, "You didn't have to stand in front of that attack like that." But the Detective grinned, knowing that she wasn't entirely angry at him. She sent him an angry scowl and started off down the hallway as the boy followed after her.

"They sure are odd, don't you think?" Botan said thoughtfully to Kazuma, "So odd actually, that they're almost made for each other."

:3:-

A/N: sorry about how the ending was just sort of crappy, and if it sounded sort of choppy, I apologize, I'll make sure it gets better in the next chapter with the Toguros!

Please review!

Peace and Luv!


	4. The Toguro Brothers

DISCLAIMER: I do not own any YYH stuff, but I do own this plot (to the extent of its originality) and my own characters

NO STEALING!

A/N: um...:scratches head: I guess there's nothing much to these notes this time, but please enjoy the next chapter! But I did skip the part with the Gokumonki person; this chapter is going to be pretty long anyway, and there really wasn't much to that part cept when Botan got captured for like thirty seconds—but on an add on to that, I have nothing against Botan, I just really haven't found many places for her to come in quite yet...

_Thoughts_

'_Kira'_

_Fire Angel_

:The Toguro Brothers:

The group barreled down the hallway now as their need for haste grew more urgent.

Mai couldn't help but pick up though, Kuwabara's thoughts about his beloved Yukina. It almost pained the Guardian to listen as he called out to the ice apparition, asking her to hold on. But she was suddenly surprised, when the young maiden's voice returned in reply.

_Please,_ she said, _Go back while you still can; none of you should get hurt because of me..._

But Kazuma would have none of it, _We're coming for you, don't worry!_

The Guardian could almost see Yukina shake her head, _No! You don't understand; the strongest of Tarukane's guards are here! Please go back!_

Mai frowned at this; she couldn't sense any type of demonic aura nearby and if Yukina was as close as they thought she was, the guards appeared to have no energy around them at all.

Kuwabara must have felt the same way, _But I can't sense anything._

_They're here! _She insisted nearly tearfully, _Please, the Toguro's are stronger than any of the other guards, you have to go back!_

But even as the apparition was speaking, the corridor suddenly grew dark and a sudden chill swept over the company. But they continued to run onwards in the darkness blindly. Lights flickered above them as they neared a pair of doors. A faint sliver of light was etched along the doorframe and spread eerily across the floor.

The doors seemed to fly open at their approach as the quartet raced down the hallway. The light from the room before them was blinding compared to the murky corridor and the four of them blinked back the glow.

When their eyes had finally adjusted to the light, they stood staring at the vast chamber before them.

All was white around them; all save for the blacked-out window stretched along the far wall, where no doubt Tarukane and his remaining goons were watching them in their little game. But before them were the two demons Yukina must have been talking about...

The Toguro Brothers.

Mai froze suddenly as her eyes locked onto the two demons; one was taller and more masculine while the other perched on his shoulder appeared as though his were some living corpse (A/N: yes I used the same term again, I know). The Guardian shuddered; something vaguely familiar about them, but she couldn't quite put her finger on it.

Kuwabara's eyes shot towards the dark window above them and narrowed. He shook his fists suddenly at the unseen boss.

"Tarukane, you bastard! You're next after I get through with these pushovers!"

"Kazuma, calm down..." Mai told him softly and put a restraining hand on his arm, her eyes watched the pair of demons before them carefully, "I don't think you should underestimate these guys..."

The red head punched his fist into his hand, "Well no one's getting in the way of me and Yukina!" he roared.

Yusuke stepped on the other side of the Guardian and cracked his knuckles, "Loosen up, Mai...These guys are probably no harder than those other demons we've fought so far..."

She placed a firm hand on his shoulder now, "Yusuke, I'm supposed to be your Guardian, and I'm supposed to protect you—so listen to me dammit! You're too quick to judge your opponents; be smart about this; something doesn't seem right about these two..."

He watched her carefully before he sighed heavily, "Fine whatever; I'll be careful if you are."

The girl nodded slowly and gave him a weak thumbs-up, "Alright," she agreed reluctantly, but the Detective clearly noticed that she was upset about the whole ordeal. But what was the problem? They couldn't sense their energy; they probably weren't that strong anyway.

The two Detectives lined up next to one another with their fists raised. Mai took her staff in her hands uncertainly as Botan stood ready behind them for any injuries.

But Mai couldn't' take her eyes off of the taller of the two Toguros. Despite the fact that his eyes were shaded by the pair of black sunglasses, it was almost as if he held her gaze as well. He wore a deep forest green jacked and placed his hands in his pockets casually, which somehow added more uneasiness within the Guardian.

"Ready?" Urameshi asked the red-head and the boy grinned.

"Any time," he replied.

The two boys suddenly charged towards the pair of demons just as a sudden warning sense raced through the back of the girl's mind. Her eyes widened in horror as her Spirit Awareness kicked in, and the boys were still racing towards the demons. The Guardian quickly glanced towards the taller of the two as a sudden demonic aura began to surround him.

"Wait!" she cried frantically and dashed after them, but they had already sensed it.

The Younger Toguro tucked his fists at his side as the aura began to glow an eerie red color. The group watched warily as the muscles around his body began to bulge, growing in both size and strength. The jacket he wore was even beginning to strain a little as his physique continued to grow.

By the time this transformation was complete, the man before them now was nearly twice his original size and definitely twice as strong.

The smallest of the pair jumped into the air, his body suddenly rippling as if it were a puddle that had been disturbed. The demon's ghostly pale body melded into a new form as the quartet looked on in a frightful awe as he formed in a pale gray blade. The Younger Toguro quickly grasped the hilt as a smirk curled along his lips.

"My brother," he said, "Has the ability to transform into anything he wishes and is virtually indestructible..." he said as his shades flashed dangerously. His voice was low and dark; calm as if he knew they had no chance.

Without warning, he swung the sword in front of him, catching the two boys and slamming them into the ground. Mai was now left between the demon and the wall with nothing but Kira's staff in her hands.

But the Toguro took no time in charging towards the Guardian, his brother (A/N: that seems kind of odd saying that...) raised above his head. She couldn't move though, she stood frozen in terror as the demon continued to lunge forwards. Something about his cold, hard gaze had her paralyzed at the spot.

"Move, dammit!" Yusuke roared as he began to pick himself off the ground.

The girl suddenly snapped out of her stupor and swiftly raised Kira's staff over her head, the pinnacle suddenly shimmering a pale pink.

She cried out as she slammed the staff into the ground. Sudden rings of fire burst from the rod, ripping up parts of the tile in large tremors and heading towards the Toguro.

But the demon leapt into the air with ease, avoiding the flames the Guardian produced. He landed quickly onto the ground the moment the attack subsided and delayed not as he began to charge towards the girl once more with a speed that did not fit his size.

Frantically, Mai picked up her staff again and held it in front of her defensively as Toguro's sword/brother came plummeting towards her.

She winced as the shock of the blow trembled through her bones. Above her, sparks crackled as the two weapons made contact. She sensed him trying to bring the weapon upon her, seeing that his strength outmatched hers. The Guardian glanced up briefly to have her eyes lock on to Toguro's.

"I expected more from a fight with a Guardian," he said as a smirk curled at his jaw and the girl clenched her teeth angrily as the palms of her hands began to perspire causing her to begin to loose her grip on the staff.

Mai felt her hands slipping on the metal as the sword steadily forced itself downwards towards her head.

"Dammit, Mai!" Yusuke suddenly growled. But Toguro ignored his angry outbursts and made no move to hold off his attack, and instead raised the sword once more above his head; readying himself for the final blow.

Mai shut her eyes as she attempted to try and endure the attack while Toguro swung down with his blade.

But suddenly, the Guardian felt a pair of strong hand wrap around her middle and latch onto her as she was thrown to the side. A sudden tremor quickly followed as she tumbled to the ground. Rubble pelted her head as Toguro's brother collided into the ground.

She raised her head after the debris had settled to come across Yusuke lying protectively beside her; his face was scratched slightly and had a large bruise along his arm.

"Urameshi...?"

He gave her a small grin, "What's this now? The third time I've saved your life?"

The Guardian released a sigh of relief as he helped her to her feet. But instead of standing next to her in a ready stance like he normally did, he took his place in front of the girl defensively. Mai found this slightly odd and cocked an eyebrow at him, but he didn't seem to notice.

Across from them, Kuwabara clenched his fist, causing his Spirit Energy to shoot forward creating his renowned Spirit Sword. Yusuke's fists began to emit a soft blue light as he also prepared to fight.

"No one's getting in the way of Yukina and me!" Kazuma cried as he lunged for Toguro, his compassion for the ice apparition flaring (no irony intended).

The demon made no effort to avoid the red-head's attack even as Kuwabara raised the energy-blade over his head. Toguro's fist recoiled to his side as he approached, but the red-head continued to race forward.

Time suddenly stood still as the demon thrust his fist into Kuwabara's stomach. His eyes bulged as time froze, but the minute it returned to normal, he was thrown backwards, tumbling over the ground.

"Kuwabara!" Urameshi roared with both anger at Toguro and his friend's stupidity. He clenched his fist and gritted his teeth as he glanced at the demon. It was as if forever passed by before Kazuma slowly and weakly raised himself off the ground and to his feet. He said nothing, but the anger within him was clear within his eyes.

Yusuke still remained in front of the Guardian protectively while she cautiously held her staff before her.

"Dammit," he cursed and turned to Mai, his expression softening a little, "Stay here," he ordered, while giving her an all-too serious glare.

It was a moment or so before the girl nodded slowly and clutched her staff to her chest, her eyes however held a hint of uncertainty as she glanced towards Kazuma.

He followed her gaze briefly, "Botan will help him, Mai..." he sighed, "But I'm being serious; stay here and don't try to help me..."

_Well that's stupid_, was her first thought, _I'm his Guardian for crying out loud..._

She half expected him to go running off towards Toguro, but instead he stood where he was and raised his arm towards the demon. But his movements were so quick that the Guardian doubted that even Toguro would have enough time to doge—

But then again, she could be wrong.

"Spirit Gun!" Yusuke roared. The blast erupted from his index finger and barreled through the tile flooring towards the demon.

Toguro stood facing the attack until what seemed it was directly in front of him before he suddenly leapt out of the way, allowing the blast to collide into the other wall.

Yusuke cursed profoundly as he made a swift dash towards the demon, his fist still clenched tightly at his side. And as he continued to run, he punched at the air.

"Shot gun!" he cried as tiny blue bullets zipped through the air. Each one collided into the ground around Toguro causing rubble and dust to fling into the air in a giant cloud. Mai watched though, as the Detective suddenly disappeared into the haze.

But when the wreckage had cleared, Urameshi was suddenly standing directly in front of the demon, his index finger pointed towards his chest.

"Hey, bastard! Spirit Gun!" he cried again, this time louder and more forceful as the attack exploded right into the demon.

Yusuke was thrown back by his own blast and tumbled over the ground before skidding to a halt several yards later. A new dust-filled cloud formed around Toguro, enveloping him; or rather his body since the Detective had fired the attack at such a close range.

The dust began to settle, however, and both the Guardian and Yusuke found that the attack had done no good.

Toguro no longer held his brother as a sword, but instead, the corpse-like demon had transformed into a breastplate to protect the other. And even on the shield, there were no signs of the slightest scratch or damage to behold.

Urameshi gritted his teeth dangerously as he cautiously made his way to his feet. And defying his orders, Mai quickly made her way next to him; ready to protect him if the demon were to attack.

Kuwabara carefully limped towards the pair, his face was scratched and a trickle of blood ran silently down from the corner of his mouth, "That son of a bitch is getting on my nerves," he muttered darkly.

There was a dark and uneasy silence that swept over the room as the tension between the trio and the Toguros grew. The demon merely stood there, staring at them with his black sunglasses in total and absolute silence...

Mai suddenly felt the tension sinking deeper and deeper within her, as if it were ready to snap at any given moment. What was wrong with this guy? Why couldn't they get a single hit out of him! Her fists clenched dangerously around Kira's staff until her knuckles turned white. He was nothing; he was just a bastard that needed to have his head blown off and to die!

"Bastard..." she suddenly muttered, as an unexpected pink haze surrounded her; her anger coming from an area unknown to her...

The two boys turned to her with puzzling looks as the Guardian's anger began to grow. The staff in her hands seemed to thump with the same beating of her heart as small pulsations began to emit from the golden-wrought rod.

And without warning, the Guardian let out an angry cry, charging forward towards Toguro.

"Mai, you idiot!" Yusuke hollered after her and tried to follow after her, but the girl found some way to outrun him. Toguro merely watched emotionlessly as she neared him, and didn't seem to find any threat in her.

She raised Kira's staff over her head as she drew closer to the demon, but he remained stead-fast and unmoving.

But before she could bring down the rod, Toguro's hand suddenly lashed out, clutched her by the neck. Mai cried out painfully as his fist constricted around her throat, closing off all and any air trying to reach her lungs.

"And I thought this fight would be challenging..." he taunted to her face, his black sunglasses penetrating through her, "But maybe that idiot Tarukane was right…maybe you all are just a bunch of children."

She clenched her teeth furiously and tried to swipe at him with her staff, but only succeeding in having the rod bounce off of his brother's form.

The Guardian glared at him furiously even as she struggled to draw in the air around her. But out-of-the-blue, a sudden memory of the night of her recital flashed back to her; and the odd sensation she had encountered afterwards; the odd sensation that someone was watching her...

The odd sensation that hadn't seemed to leave her since...

Her eyes widened, "It was you..." she gasped.

Toguro smirked as his clutch tightened. Behind them both, Mai could hear someone quickly running towards them...Yusuke to be exact.

"Leave her alone, Toguro!" he roared as he started to throw a punch.

The demon sneered when he caught sight of the Detective approaching quickly behind them. Gripping tighter onto the girl's throat, he suddenly hurled her across the room, sending her smashing into the tile flooring. She hit with such force that several craters appeared whenever she came in contact with the ground. By the time she stopped rolling however, a trail of blood now stained the floor where she had fallen on.

She lay there in what seemed like paralysis when she didn't make a single movement and her eyes stared up blankly at the ceiling.

"M-Mai...?" Yusuke stammered uncertainly towards the girl, but she didn't stir. Botan and Kuwabara stared after her speechless, unsure of what to do, but Toguro smirked in delight...

_Interesting…_

:4:-

Koenma stared at the screen before him nervously. So far none of the three fighters had been able to but a scratch on the Toguros and were getting themselves beat up in the process...

And then there was the fact that Mai had suddenly rushed into things like that, and now she was lying on the ground in what appeared to be some sort of coma. The Guardian didn't even seem alive anymore; one could hardly tell that she was still breathing.

In the battlefield was total and absolute silence. The remaining three of the group watched on in a silent shock as if they hadn't truly gotten over the attack. The Toguros however, appeared all-too calm, even as the two boys suddenly began to attack at once. Neither of them was strong enough though, as the demon easily evaded both of their blows and even managed to strike at them as well.

The toddler glanced quickly towards Kurama who stood quietly next to the desk. And although the severity of his anger was not evident in his expression, Koenma was able to notice his fists clenched tightly at his side and a muscle in the red-head's jaw jerking slightly. His emerald green eyes were locked entirely on the screen; specifically Mai's lifeless body.

_Come on, Yusuke..._the toddler thought, _Can't you think of some way to defeat these guys—?_

He suddenly jerked out of his thoughts when he noticed Kurama abruptly began to leave the room.

"Hey! Where are you going!" Koenma demanded.

The red-head paused and turned his head, "I'm really no use to you here; paperwork just isn't my strong point..." and he casually left the chamber.

Koenma stared after him in both curiosity and nervousness...it was hard to decipher what Kurama would do when he got to Tarukane's mansion.

:4:-

Yusuke gasped for breath as Toguro socked him in the stomach. Already trickles of blood poured from the corners of his mouth and beneath his hairline as well as several bruises as they began to form along his abdomen and arms. But then again, those were almost nothing compared to Kuwabara since he had made several more attempts at taking down Toguro than the Detective, even though the same anger flowed through both of them. In fact, Yusuke could have sworn that the red-head had a fractured arm or something of the sort.

"He's too quick," Urameshi growled as he gently grasped his bruised arm, "He's too damn quick even with those frickin muscles of his!"

Kazuma shook his head, "Even I can't get close enough to even try and hit him..."

The Detective glanced quickly back at Mai's lifeless form lying not ten yards away. Botan had found a way towards her and was now attempting to try and heal the poor girl out of her unconscious state. But still, the Guardian didn't stir and her eyes stared vacantly up at the ceiling.

"Urameshi..." Kuwabara limped towards him slowly, "I'm not giving up on Yukina...but I think we're running out of ideas," he glanced down at his hand and sighed, "I think I might have a plan..."

The pair stood beside one another as Kazuma called forth the last ounces of his Spirit Energy to draw out his sword.

"Well here goes nothing..." the red-head said quietly, "For Yukina...?"

Yusuke nodded.

Toguro faced them at the other end of the chamber, his eyes watching them from behind his black sunglasses. It wasn't a moment later then he suddenly began to charge towards the two.

Kuwabara followed the demon's lead, his sword sticking out towards Toguro.

"Now!" he cried.

The Detective swiftly raised his hand as a bright blue light began to glow from the tip of his finger. He aimed directly at the boy in front of him before firing.

"Spirit Gun!" he roared.

:4:-

A/N: sorry guys, I wanted to get this chapter over with and stuff, plus I have to get started on homework for the weekend :shudders: but I'll see you all next weekend when I'll hopefully update!

Ciao ya'll!


	5. Dance Dance Revolution!

DISCLAIMER: I don't own any YYH stuff, despite the fact that I really, really want to...AND I DON'T OWN DJSAMMY (i think that's who plays/sings this song)

A/N: Yay! Wow, I don't know why I just said that seeing that we just lost our volleyball game and I'm kinda tired...maybe cuz I'm just my regular perky self!

LoL, thank you guys for your feedback on who Mai should fight! Please keep sending me ideas! I don't want Mai to become the center of attention, so she'll only fight a few times, but nonetheless we should have her beat the crap out of a few people, shouldn't we?

Thankies to my reviewers!

Umeko Saito

Dragon Firefairy

SerenityRose222: LMAO that would be hilarious! I'll definitely put that into consideration, thanks for the suggestion though!

Sk8tergirl69

Lil Sakura 87

PS: omgosh! Over the weekend I drew this kawaii picture of Mai and Yusuke together! LoL, the look on Urameshi's face is priceless; I wish I could show it to you guys, but I think you have to pay for that "Optional" stuff...

Enjoy!

_Thoughts_

'_Kira'_

_Fire Angel_

:Dance Dance Revolution:

Using Yusuke's Spirit Gun to propel him forward, Kuwabara shot towards Toguro with extreme agility. His Spirit Sword held before him, and aiming for his chest.

But with no time to dodge, the two fighters collided...

And Kazuma's sword penetrated through both Toguros. The red-head plunged the blade into the demon's flesh for a final measure as he shakily stood to his feet. Neither one of the Toguros stirred nor did they make a move or effort to recover from the attack.

Silence filled the chamber afterwards, all save for Yusuke and Kuwabara's heavy breathing.

"Are...are they gone?" Urameshi asked slowly.

The red-head's sword vanished and he put his hands on his knees, "Yeah..." he replied.

Not a moment passed though, before the entrance doors suddenly opened behind them. The remaining conscious trio turned to see Kurama step into the room and with him the faint scent of roses.

With Botan, Mai suddenly stirred as her nose crinkled slightly.

"...K-Kurama-san..." she murmured ever-so softly; her lips hardly moving.

The emerald-eyed fighter walked nearly casually towards Yusuke and Kuwabara, his eyes catching sight of the fallen Toguro, "I guess you guess didn't need my help after all..." his head turned to face Mai's lifeless body, his expression fading slightly. The two boys let him pass as he made his way next to the Guardian.

He knelt next to her carefully and brushed a strand of her hair out of her scratched and bloodied face. She stirred once more and he gently lifted her into his arms bridal-style.

Mai suddenly huddled into his chest, her fist weakly gripping onto his shirt.

"...Kurama..." she repeated softly as her eyes opened just barely and a small smile crept onto her lips, "You smell funny...you know that...?"

He grinned and laughed kindly, "That's the last thing I need to hear from you..."

She let out a weak laugh as her eyes threatened to close once again. Yusuke and Kuwabara approached slowly and she smiled at both of them in return, "Did we get 'em?" she asked weakly.

Urameshi nodded, "Yeah--but no thanks to you," he said teasingly.

Mai scowled and probably would have smacked him had she not had the strength. The Detective grinned and handed back her staff from the ground. She took it weakly in her hands, but her eyes suddenly fell on the doors behind them.

The others turned to find the blue-haired ice apparition standing meekly in the entrance.

"Yukina!" Kazuma cried excitedly and immediately pranced off towards her. The rest of the group followed soon afterwards.

The apparition smiled kindly as they approached, "I...I really can't thank you all enough for helping me..." she said nervously and blushed as she turned to Kuwabara, "Especially you, Kazuma..."

The red-head practically died of joy, "Hey, you know my name!" he exclaimed.

Yusuke snorted, "I thought you'd never let someone call you Kazuma—!" he was cut off suddenly as Kuwabara hit him over the head.

"Shut up, Urameshi!" he hissed before turning his attention quickly back to Yukina.

Mai grinned weakly at Kuwabara's infatuated when something suddenly caught her eye. She turned her head slowly just in time to see Hiei's form disappear from the doorframe.

-:5:-

Mai stood at the edge of the crosswalk and watched lazily as the cars drove by. She scratched the cast around her arm irritably and punched the "walk" button again. The girl sighed after a moment and held her arm to her stomach.

The light across from her lit up with the little stick figure.

Without missing a beat, the girl swiftly raced into the intersection to get to the other side on time; dammit Genkai was going to kill her if she didn't find Yusuke and Kuwabara soon...

But before she had even made it halfway across, a motorcycle suddenly charged through the red light and headed towards her. The girl stood frozen for a moment as if caught in the headlights. It was only until the roaring engine caught her attention did she suddenly dive out of the way as the motorcycle thundered on by.

"Dammit! Watch where you're going!" she screamed after the fading forest green jacket (A/N: ...).

She picked herself up quickly and noticed the tear in her decently new pair of jeans. She swore softly and briefly made sure that the cast around her arm hadn't been damaged.

_Crazy idiots..._she though angrily as she made her way down the sidewalk. At the next stoplight she looked around—not only for the correct direction, but for any crazy drivers running rampage on the streets.

She crossed the street hurriedly and glanced up at one of the store signs. In bright neon lights, the word "Arcade" flashed at the road. The Guardian pushed open the doors to be greeted by the incessant automated crashes coming from all the systems.

Mai glanced down the aisles for a few minutes before she turned down one of them.

"Hey Yusuke, Genkai's looking for you..." she told the Detective as she sat in the seat next to him. He swiveled the joystick and repeatedly jabbed the buttons as his eyes remained locked onto the screen. He didn't answer her until the monitor flashed and words "Game Over" appeared.

"Dammit," he muttered and then turned to the girl next to him, "Yeah sorry Mai, what were you saying?"

"Genkai's looking for you," she repeated calmly and eyed the screen with a small frown, "How are you guys interested in this stuff anyway?"

He shrugged, "Yeah, well it's something I do to keep myself busy—"

"When you're trying to hide from Genkai?" she finished with a teasing grin.

Urameshi grinned as well, "That too—"

The Detective stopped short when he caught sight of Kuwabara nearby jabbing the buttons on a bright pink monitor with the bubbly words "Hello Kitty" printed on the top.

"Come on, Hello Kitty! Go, go, go!" (A/N: you just got to love messing w/ Kuwabara!)

Mai slapped her hand to her forehead and shook her head. Yusuke snickered before swiveling in his chair and away from the game he was playing, "So I take it you're not really into video games, then?"

She turned her attention away from Kazuma and shook her head, "Not really..."

The Guardian could tell he was thinking when the sound of heavy music could be heard near the back of the building. He grinned and suddenly gripped her hand, "Hm...we'll see about that..." he told her deviously as he began to drag her towards the back. She gave him a quizzical look, but he only continued to smirk.

They swerved in and out of the aisles and made their way towards the rear of the building where the music pounded harder and louder. A small crowd gathered around a screen that was flashing in neon colors and the thumbing techno music blasted in the speakers. On the screen, arrows scrolled towards the top where other points indicated up, down, left, and right. Above the entire system Dance Dance Revolution flickered in bright pink lights.

Two teenagers stomped on the panels in front and around them—but not very well. They stumbled as they tried to step on the arrows in beat with the tune. The song sped up and the pair began to lose their footing and soon gave up.

Yusuke subtly tried to drag her towards the system, but she stopped him.

"What the hell are you trying to pull, Urameshi—?" she demanded, but was suddenly cut off as the Detective abruptly shoved her through the crowd. She stumbled as she broke through the group of people and simultaneously tripped onto the platform.

"Looks like we have a new challenger!" someone called from the crowd. Mai flushed with total and complete embarrassment as she whirled to find Yusuke in the group, but he had found someway to blend in.

"Urameshi, you ass! You're dead when I find you!" she cried into the crowd hoping the Detective was nearby to hear her—but since the group was already beginning to clap and cheer, it probably wasn't possible.

She was nearly ready to scurry off the stage, but the crowd was already beginning to gather around the system, blocking her in. The Guardian bit her lip nervously as she stared at the screen and then down at her feet where all the arrows were. It seemed simple enough, she decided uncertainly.

Hesitantly, she punched the 'down' panel with her foot and immediately, a screen with a list of songs appeared. _Hey... it's not _**too** _bad..._She thought to herself with an inward smile as she quickly scrolled through the list, checking each song briefly before moving on.

"Do 'The Twilight Zone'!" someone cried behind her and she meekly looked through the songs until she found the requested one. The beat sampled was faster and a little too techno for her liking, but it was worth a try, wasn't it?

Pressing the 'start' button, the Guardian took a deep breath and settled in the center of the panel. She listened to the heavy beat of the music as the arrows suddenly appeared from the bottom of the screen and quickly ran upwards towards the other four points.

It took a moment or two before Mai really got used to the style of the game; that you had to press on the tiles when the right direction came to the top of the screen. But after that, she found the beat pretty simple and was able to stomp on the correct panels in the correct time.

Near the side of the system, Yusuke folded his arms casually as he watched the girl step dance to the beat in the center of the platform. Behind him, Kuwabara soon joined him after completing his Hello Kitty game.

"What's Mai doing up there?" he wondered as he stood next to the Detective.

He shrugged andsaid casually, "She hasn't really been dancing for awhile with Genkai's training and all...and I thought this was close enough..." he let out a small laugh, "Not to mention that it's pretty entertaining..."

"And you didn't want to go out there with her, because...?" Kazuma asked but stopped when he noticed the Detective flush.

"...I-I can't dance..." he mumbled.

The red-head nearlydoubled overwith laughter at this as Mai's song ended. A sly gleam crept in his eyes and he hummed casually—just before he 'accidentally' bumped Yusuke onto the extra platform beside the Guardian.

"Kuwabara!" he roared angrily and tried to make his way off of the panel, but Mai already laughed and grabbed him by the arm.

"Don't even try it, Urameshi!" she laughed and placed him back on the center of the platform, "You're stuck with me, got it?" she ordered and gave him a teasing glare.

"But-But I can't—" he stammered, but the Guardian had already chosen a new song before he could protest. This time it was a slower tune that Urameshi might have been able to keep up with.

She grinned, "Ready?" she asked and he managed a nervous nod. The music slowly emitted from the speakers as the longer green arrows scrolled up the screen.

"_Left_...left--there you go! Good boy!" she told him witha smile as the Detective stumbled over himself in trying to stomp on the panels.

Then a chain of 'up' arrows suddenly appeared as the beat sped up.

"Aw, shit!" Mai heard him mutter and she laughed.

Yusuke nearly fell forward as he tried to catch up, but his screen flashed red and the word 'Boo' kept appearing beneath the arrows. Mai laughed not unkindly as he tripped over himself.

The song flowed melodically through the speakers and Mai smiled and gracefully pressed her feet onto the arrows around her:

Oh, thinkin' about our younger years,

There was only you and me,

We were young and wild and free

Now nothin' can take you away from me

We've been down that road before

But that's over now,

You keep me comin' back for more

Baby, you're all that I want

When you're lyin' here in my arms,

I'm findin' it hard to believe

We're in heaven

And love is all that I need,

And I found it there in your heart

It isn't too hard to see

We're in heaven!

Sometime near the middle of the song, Yusuke had stopped suddenly and listened to the music, watching Mai at the same time. She seemed so happy just dancing to the music and following with the beat even if she did miss a few counts or so...it was almost entrancing to just watch her enjoy herself on the dance floor—

Holy crap--what was he thinking? He cursed himself mentally and shook his head; man, these sort of thoughts were beginning to become more and more frequent...

_Weird..._

The song ended and Mai jumped on the final two panels. The crowd behind her cheered and clapped. Her face was flushed and nearly matched the tint of her hair as she brushed a lock out of her eyes. She turned to Yusuke and grinned as she made her way off the platform.

"That wasn't so bad, was it?" she inquired lightheartedly and the boy scowled and crossed his arms.

By the time they had made their way through the crowd, it appeared as though Kazuma had already left.

"Probably trying to find some way to send Yukina those love letters he's been writing..." Urameshi offered.

The pair made their way through the aisles and towards the front doors. And without really paying attention to the direction they were heading, they casually made their way down the sidewalk towards an intersection. Mai smiled and placed her hands behind her head as she stared up into the sky above them...

At least when Genkai beat the shit out of them, they'd have a nice day to look at while they were lying in the hospital--

They stopped suddenly at a crosswalk and stared curiously across as a large group of people grouped together on the other side of the street. When the light changed, the two of them quickly made their way across the street towards the group of people.

Mai's eyes grew wide in shock, "What the hell do you think happened?"

Nearly the entire cornerstone of the building had been torn apart; rubble and fragmented remains scattered along the sidewalk. The crowd murmured in confusion and in the distance the sound of sirens could be heard traveling closer to them.

Urameshi shook his head, "I don't know..."

Suddenly he froze and his body tensed defensively. In the same moment, Mai felt a shiver race down her spine...that very same chill that had plagued her for the past days.

Her face paled considerably, and her eyes suddenly lost their normal luster as she turned towards the road. Yusuke did the same, only reluctantly...

He already knew what was behind him.

A man atop of a motorcycle sat along the curb casually, the engine of this vehicle humming dully. A helmet covered his face and he wore a deep, forest green jacket that fell down to his knees.

Mai clasped the collar of her shirt in her fist nervously until her knuckles turned white as she stared at the man, "God, it can't be..." she murmured.

The man slowly reached up and lifted the helmet over his head, revealing the black pair of sunglasses beneath.

Yusuke clenched his fists together and gritted his teeth. The Guardian felt his Reiki level rising dangerously as if sending a warning towards him...

"Toguro..." he muttered darkly.

The demon smirked and both the Detective and the Guardian heard his voice in their minds saying the same thing:

_Come with me..._

-:5:-

Mai couldn't help but shiver with each step she took down the alleyway. Toguro's engine thrummed up ahead at the end of the lane as he waited for them to catch up with him. It had been going on for nearly fifteen minutes now; the demon would drive ahead of them and wait almost too calmly for the pair to follow before he continued down the road.

But she couldn't help thinking that it was all just some horrible dream; Toguro was dead, he was supposed to be rotting on the ground of Tarukane's mansion by now...Then how was he there before them luring them to some place unknown?

She felt her stomach tie up in knots as she and Yusuke continued to race after the demon. It all felt like a dream, though; it was hard actually considering that Toguro was still alive even after Kuwabara's attack.

But it didn't feel right...

The Guardian was unable to find any words to contemplate what was going on in her mind and remained silent along with Urameshi as they continued down the road after the fading motorcycle.

Sunlight lingered along the rooftops as the day slowly began to wear away, and yet still the odd trio swerved in and out of the buildings after the demon. Where he was taking them, and if it was a trick of some kind, neither of them knew, but a probing sense in the back of their minds kept them moving onwards.

Nearly five minutes passed again when Toguro suddenly disappeared around a corner. Hurriedly, the duo followed after and whirled around the turn to find the demon gone. Yusuke cursed angrily and glanced around the empty street. They sat in an uneasy silence before Mai suddenly pointed.

"Yusuke, look..."

The Detective turned to see Toguro's motorcycle lying carelessly on its side next to a deserted parking garage; the demon however, was no where in sight.

"Do you think we should go?" Mai asked uncertainly.

He grinned, "It might be a trap..." he told her as if it was her last chance to turn back.

The Guardian scowled, "You're not going anywhere without me; especially if it has anything to do with this Toguro bastard...We're better as a team, remember?" she said and returned with a small smile.

And so the pair raced across the street towards the garage, and with inhuman-like agility, they leapt from level to level until they finally came to a halt.

Toguro was waiting for them; just standing across from them with his hands casually placed in his pockets. Instinctively, Yusuke stepped forward and in front of Mai protectively (A/N: which seems sort of weird since she _is _his Guardian...). But the demon smirked and his eyes glinted beneath those black shades of his.

The Detective clenched his fists angrily and readied himself for any sort of battle the demon was going to start.

"You're supposed to be dead, Toguro..." he muttered darkly and his eyes flashed with a brief hint of fury.

His chuckle was deep as he mocked him, "You really thought it would be so easy, Urameshi?" and he laughed in amusement, "My brother and I aren't so easily taken down...it was all an act; to the very last fight; we were never working for Tarukane anyway..."

Mai saw his eyes flash towards her and she shuddered, "Then who were you working for?" she demanded.

"The business is no concern to yours, Guardian..." he growled.

"Well obviously it is," Yusuke cut in dangerously, his eyes never leaving the demon, "Or else you wouldn't have gone through so much trouble to drag us all into this."

Toguro smirked, "Simple curiosity..." he answered calmly, "It's been awhile since I've come across someone with your abilities...Someone worth fighting..."

Urameshi gritted his teeth, "Is this conversation going anywhere?" he muttered.

The demon smiled as if awaiting that very question, "A tournament," he continued casually, "To be precise, the Dark Tournament; a battle between demons and created by the bastards testing their gambling skills for their lust for money. I propose and invitation to you, Detective..." his eyes flashed towards Mai, "And the girl if she's willing."

Yusuke tensed as well as the Guardian. A sudden dread filled the both of them and they could sense it in one another.

"Sorry," Urameshi growled, "I think I'll decline..."

Toguro suddenly snickered in his deep tone of voice, "I'm afraid that choice is out of the question..." his eyes narrowed dangerously, and the sense of dread remained stilled in the air, "My invitation is not a suggestion, Urameshi; if you don't take me up on my offer, I will personally hunt down every last one of your friends and family until each of them lay rotting beneath the earth..." the darkness of his tone sent a chill through the void between them.

The Detective froze when the demon said this; the seriousness of it all creating a dilemma within him. He glanced briefly behind him at Mai who had the same sort of uncertain look about her, but even so, she trembled and gripped her collar fearfully.

She heard him curse mentally to himself in her own mind, but still he did not answer the demon, nor did she—but probably not for the same reason; she wasn't willing to be swayed by such low trickery.

The demon smirked again, "Needless to say, I must admit that during the last fight we had, I was only at twenty percent of my strength; not much of a feat, if you ask me..." he continued with his hands still in his pockets, "You, however, may have the privilege to see me at a more worthy level..."

He trailed off suddenly and at the same moment, a dark, demonic aura began to envelope him. Shedding his coat, Toguro clenched his fists and punched the air as a deep and gutted roar emitted from his throat. Mai took a wary step backwards as the ground beneath them suddenly began to quake. The demon's physique swiftly began to grow; the muscles around his body beginning to bulge dangerously as if at any moment his whole body would burst from the pressure. His cry continued to ring through the night and through the empty levels of the garage, and rubble and dust began to flutter down from the ceiling.

Unexpectedly, Toguro suddenly whirled and slammed his fist into one of the nearby pillars supporting the structure. All time seemed to stand still as the blow trembled through the rest of the garage.

But he did not falter. Around his fist, small cracks suddenly began to crawl around the beam and raced upwards towards the ceiling.

Soon, the entire building was suddenly quaking. Larger fragments of rock and rubble crashed to the ground, even the floor beneath them trembled and threatened to collapse. Mai suddenly cried out as the earth beneath her gave way, and she leapt to the side. Around the duo, the garage began to sway dangerously and the air around them was filled with dust and debris.

The ceiling then suddenly began to fall around the pair. Yusuke, however, remained frozen to the spot, his eyes never leaving Toguro across from him. The Guardian hesitated only momentarily before swiftly throwing her arms around him. In the same motion, she pulled up a kekkai (A/N: spelling?) barrier around them, even as the structure formed into a mere mass of ruin.

It was dusk by the time the pair resurfaced beneath the wreckage, Mai's shield working its charm in protecting them both. Yusuke heaved one of the larger boulders away from him and shakily stood to his feet.

Across from them, Toguro remained standing. His black sunglasses watched them carefully even as a sneer crept along his lips.

"That, Urameshi, was only a sample of sixty percent of my power..." he informed him as a sly smirk crawled across his contorted face, "I'll let you use your imagination of what one-hundred percent might do..."

Mai froze as the demon's eyes locked on her. But the Detective suddenly stepped in front of her protectively, and yet he held his fists locked at his side and his head staring at the ground furiously.

The Guardian sensed his hesitation and mentally tried to calm him down, but he gritted his teeth and glared at Toguro threateningly as if daring him to try and attack.

"We will go to the Dark Tournament," he answered darkly.

A/N: well that only took up most of my night! LoL, I hope you guys enjoyed!

PLEASE SEND ME SUGGESTIONS OF WHO YOU WANT MAI TO FIGHT IN MY "TWEAKED" VERSION OF THE DARK TOURNAMENT!

Oh, and I was actually thinking of doing a yyh/inu crossover w/ the Yuyu group and the addition of Mai. The basic storyline is that the gang falls into the feudal era and into the Inuyasha group; but it won't be much of a romance so no voting on pairings, plus it would have nothing to do with either Fire Angel or Fire Dancer with the exception of Mai to the group. It will probably just be Humor/Parody so no one gets worked up about it...

But do you guys want me to do that? Or would you rather me just keep that idea for another time and finish this one?

Ah, well...tell me what you think okie dokie?

PLEASE REVIEW EVERYONE!

Peace and luv!

Ciao!


	6. Hanging Neck Island

DISCLAIMER: see all my other chapters—but these confusing plots/characters are mine!! I own Mai and her demon half, Kira...I also own the plot (once again) but only to the extent of my originality; I don't own the episode part of it...

If that made any sense...

A/N: ahhhhhhh!! Stupid damn school/science fair! I wish it would all burn in hell!! ::pants heavily then perks up:: but now I have an update—despite the fact that it sucks—but nonetheless I have one!!!

Sorry if you guys don't enjoy it as much, I was kinda having a major brainfart and I couldn't decide what this chapter should be like...

Ah well, please don't be too harsh, LoL, I promise I will try and make it better by the time I move onto the actual fights—that's where the plot/romance thickens everyone! So be prepared! Haha, I just hope I don't confuse anyone with all the twists and crap...

PLEASE KEEP SENDING ME IDEAS FOR WHO MAI SHOULD FIGHT!!! I've already had a few people suggest Jin and a few people that Genkai and Hiei fight, but please tell me what you think please!!!

Thanks to my reviewers!

Naoko Asakura 009

Dragon Firefairy

adrienne: haha, yes I know you found my story...

TonyDiMerasbedroomslave

XxXRoseVixenXxX: ooo!! I like your new pen name!

Stormbringer08

Umeko Saito

Sk8tergirl69

Inu-hottie

_Thoughts_

'_Kira'_

_Fire Angel_

::Hanging Neck Island (aka: the crappy chapter!)::

Mai's PoV

"Does it hurt, slacker?!" Genkai barked as Yusuke clambered up the cliff-face with the heavy boulders along his wrists and ankles. The old woman bobbed up and down in the air beside him all the while shouting orders and giving her motivation. Already Yusuke had been subjected to the woman's vigorous training and shakily made his way further upwards.

I stood beneath them with my hands raised above my head towards the Detective and sweat perspired off my brow. I bit my lip forcefully. Transferring my energy to Urameshi wasn't easy and it appeared as though it wasn't doing much good, seeing that it was only draining _me_.

Genkai turned her head to me, "You're slacking off, Mai!!" she roared. I clenched my teeth almost painfully and forced more and more of my energy towards Yusuke.

The Detective seemed to receive it and struggled further up the cliff-side. My body began to tremble violently, but I continued to hold on. I shut my eyes tightly and gritted my teeth; I couldn't hold on much longer.

"DAMMIT!" I cried to myself and suddenly collapsed to the ground.

Above me, I heard Yusuke yell and then felt the ground quake as he fell to the earth. He cursed angrily as I lay panting into the grass. Tears of failure filled my eyes and I slammed my fist into the ground. Genkai floated to the ground and folded her arms.

"Take a break you two—"

"No!" I snapped as I continued to pant, "I don't know about Yusuke, but I'm finishing this!! We've been at it for a week now; I should be able to do it!"

Urameshi shakily got to his knees, "Mai, you're drained, just take it easy for awhile..."

I sent him a stubborn glare before weakly rising to my feet, "Whatever," I told him and slowly made my way into the woods where a small stream ran though it. Unsteadily, I fell to my knees beside it and dipped my hands into the cool brook.

Cupping my hands, I brought the water to my face and splashed it over my head. But as the liquid trickled down my cheeks, so did my tears.

Why couldn't I do it? The question ran through my mind as I took shuddering sobs. How the hell was I supposed to be a Guardian if I couldn't even support my own strength?! My tears fell onto my hands and I clenched my fists.

_Fine..._I thought to myself_...Mai, we're just going to have to push harder, then..._

-:6:-

'_Mai...' _Kira coaxed_ '...You're pushing yourself _too _hard; calm down...'_

She gritted her teeth and scowled at the earth. Her index finger nearly extended to the spike below her. A small pink orb was the only thing separating the girl from impaling herself on the spear. Sparks crackled up and down her arm. Sweat perspired off her brown and her arm shook, but she still wouldn't give up.

"Five weeks," the girl muttered to the former Guardian, "Five weeks is all I have before this god-forsaken tournament and I can't waste a single minute!!" she growled, "I at least have to be at the same level as Yusuke by that time!"

And with that, the orb at her finger grew larger and she was raised slightly higher into the air. Around her, the eerily pink haze suddenly appeared and rippled around her body as sweat continued to perspire off her brow.

"Five weeks," she repeated again through her gritted teeth.

From the doorway—and without Mai noticing—Genkai stood watching. The old woman's brow furrowed slightly as she watched the girl perch on top of the spike and her spirit energy. She had been at it for nearly seven hours now and yet still she did not let up. It was curious that Mai was able to withstand such drain...Curious yet intriguing at the same time that she possessed such endurance...

_Just like Kira..._the old woman thought and folded her arms slowly.

"Five weeks indeed..."

-:6:-

_A little more than a month later:_

"Man, these guys are creeping me out..." Kazuma muttered quietly to the only two of his teammates present. Each and every team of demons were leering at them; loathing them for just being there at the docks.

Kurama nodded slowly and warily, "It would appear as though we're not welcomed..." he said calmly and glanced around cautiously. Hiei crossed his arms over his chest and glared at the other teams dangerously.

The first red-head frowned uncertainly and glanced back towards the woods, "Where do you think Yusuke and Mai are? The ferry—"

A voice from near the shore suddenly called towards them, "Departure to Hanging Neck Island will be in five minutes!" and older-looking man limped forward into the midst of the teams before falling on the lonely trio, "If your entire team is not present, you will not be allowed to make the trip."

"Hey!" Kuwabara shook his fist at the man, "Hold up there will ya?! We still have two teammates coming!!"

The man narrowed his eyes, "Five minutes," he repeated and turned back towards the docks.

Hiei snorted, "Bastard."

The trio shifted uneasily as the seconds began to tick away and still no sign of either the Detective or the Guardian. It was only when the captain called back to the teams for a final warning could a soft rustling be heard behind them. The three turned to find Yusuke and Mai emerging from the woods...along with a sixth member...

Urameshi looked exhausted from fatigue and limped towards them with the support of the Guardian. The third part of the odd trio was nearly shorter than Hiei and wore a mask over their face so that only their eyes could be seen. This fighter, however, bore the same clothes as Genkai...

"Sorry we're late guys..." Yusuke said weakly, "Mai forgot her purse..."

She scowled only teasingly just as an unhappy murmur rippled through the crowd of demons; team Urameshi would be allowed to make the voyage. Many of the teams sent hateful glares towards them and grumbled in agitation.

But Hiei watched the Detective carefully for a moment before flicking the hilt of his sword with his thumb.

Without warning, the speed-apparition slashed out at the Spirit Detective with everything he had. Yusuke dodged the blows easily despite Hiei's swiftness even as the demon whizzed in and out of view.

The Detective suddenly caught Hiei's sword between his fingers and gave him a small grin.

"Hn...You've gotten stronger Urameshi," Hiei observed calmly as he withdrew his weapon and sheathed it once more.

Yusuke yawned suddenly and started to close his eyes, "...I, I think I'm just going to rest for awhile..."

The Detective suddenly slumped over and Mai caught him. A soft snoring could be heard from the boy and she sighed sadly.

"I guess Genkai's training drained him..." Kurama observed quietly as the Guardian began to haul his sleeping for towards the docks. What surprised the others was that she was able to carry him with such ease without even the least bit of struggle.

The demons parted distastefully and Mai said nothing as she and Urameshi made their way onto the boat with the other members of their team following behind. And in only a minute's time, the other teams boarded the ship and the boat lurched forward.

Mai carefully set Yusuke down by the railing and the other five stood nearby with the exception of Hiei on the railing itself.

"Hey, Mai, what's with those things on your head?" Kazuma asked and pointed to three turquoise stones curiously etched in a triangle along her forehead; three stones that certainly weren't there two months prior.

The Guardian glanced upwards as if not quite sure what he was talking about before she flushed furiously and slapped her hand over her head, "Nothing," she replied quickly, "Just experimenting with my style and all that crap..."

Kuwabara frowned slightly, but shrugged and let the subject drop. The others, however, had turned their attention to the Masked Fighter with a mix of curiosity and uncertainty, but the new member didn't seem to notice and merely kept to themselves.

But before any of them could get comfortable, the speakers suddenly blared across the deck:

"All teams shall choose their best fighter; only one team from this ship is permitted to leave and continue on to the Dark Tournament. This boat _is_ the preliminary round..."

A murmur swept through the ship, but just before a low rumble could be heard near the center of the deck. Demons cried out in surprise as the floor suddenly began to split and from beneath, a platform arose.

It was a moment before the "best" of the other teams moved forward to the battle field.

Kazuma smirked, "These guys are pushovers! Let me at em—!"

He stopped short, however when a pair of rather large demons began to make their way towards the platform. Kuwabara gulped and scuttled away towards the railing, "Urameshi can take them..." he mumbled.

"He needs to rest, Kuwabara," Kurama told him just as the Masked Fighter suddenly started to make their way towards the arena before any of them could protest.

Team Urameshi watched them nervously, all save for Mai who leaned against the railing calmly and Hiei snorted.

"Hn, well if they lose, we can always kill the rest of them off...then no one could complain and we'd be in the tournament," the apparition smirked and folded his arms over his chest.

On the platform, the demons chuckled at the small fighter that leapt onto the arena; each of them wanted a piece of the easy fight.

But the sixth member had other ideas.

Without missing a beat, the fighter suddenly recoiled their palm to their side where it began to glow a pale blue color. Before the demons could react, they pushed their fist forward and a sudden blast erupted over the field, obliterating any and all the other fighters.

Around the deck the other teams suddenly growled angrily with one another and sent rather furious leers at the Urameshi team. On instinct, the group readied themselves as the demon began to surround them.

"It doesn't matter which on of us makes it the island," said a demon, "Just so long as these filthy humans don't!"

Others muttered in agreement and closed in around the group. Mai took up her staff in her hands while the other three readied themselves as well.

It was all a blur of how the fight started, but it was clear that team Urameshi was on their own for this one. The group guarded their area—and Yusuke—from the hoard of demons swarming around them.

Mai grinned as she swiped her staff at several other teams, "Well this is a change of pace!" she observed as her staff pierced through the flesh of a demon, "It's been awhile since I actually fought someone."

The shorter apparition smirked, "Yeah 'cause you were forced to fight with Urameshi the entire time..." he zipped out of sight momentarily and reappeared a second later as his sword lashed out near the center of the mass.

Kuwabara had drawn his spirit sword and Kurama and pulled out his whip and slashed out at the other teams. Already, a vast majority of the demons had already been exterminated, but there were still those who kept coming. The Guardian remained near Urameshi; determined not to allow any of the demons through.

From above them, however, the masked fighter suddenly jumped down from the platform and landed amidst the Urameshi team and pounced easily on the deck and next to Mai. As if on instinct, the Guardian lifted her palms in front of her with her wrists planted together, the masked fighter doing the same. In both their hands, a glowing orb appeared and began to grow steadily. The demons charging suddenly froze in terror as the pair pushed forward, the beams of energy racing across the ground.

AS the demons were obliterated, the other three teammates blinked in confusion and sweat-dropped.

"Okay...then..." Kuwabara said slowly. And in a small sense, Mai looked somewhat confused as well, but quickly shook it off as if nothing had happened.

Kurama placed his whip back in his hair (A/N:...right...well I'm not quite sure how to describe that ::nervous laugh::) and glanced around the ship, "It appears that was all of them..." he stated quietly.

There was an awkward silence through te group before Kuwabara whirled on Mai.

"Dude! What the hell was that?!"

The Guardian turned and sweat-dropped, laughing nervously, "Reflexes?" she suggested before quickly making her way across the deck as if to avoid any other questions. She stopped at the opposite railing and stared over the side, suddenly becoming somber.

Kazuma leaned towards the other red-head, "Your girlfriend's weird, Kurama..."

-:6:-

Mai flopped down on the couch heavily after she had hauled Urameshi to the armchair next to her. Hiei perched on the chair casually and Kurama sat next the Guardian. Kuwabara sat across from them on the second couch while the masked fighter crossed their leg over the other on the armrest.

Tea had already been laid out for the team and sat on the coffee table before them. The only ones who hadn't taken any were Yusuke and Kuwabara—who had this paranoia that everything was poisoned. The Detective huddled into a ball and was probably sucking his thumb had he not had his back turned to them.

"Dammit, grandma..." he muttered in his sleep.

His Guardian rolled her eyes and wearily placed her head on Kurama's shoulder. The red-head smiled and leaned on her head as well.

"So when do you think Urameshi will wake up? In time for tomorrow's match?" Kuwabara asked.

Mai shrugged weakly, "I dunno; we both have been training a lot lately; it's a miracle _I'm_ still conscious—"she stopped suddenly and glanced down at the table and the tray, "...Uh, guys? Weren't we supposed to have six cups?"

Kazuma nodded, "yeah we still do though, right? I mean I didn't take one," he said gesturing towards the remaining cup.

Kurama shook his head, however, "But neither does Yusuke; we should have two spare ones left over," he observed the group, "The rest of us still have one, so we're missing one—"

A small laugh suddenly resounded through the hotel room. The team turned sharply to find a small child sitting on top of the dresser near the door. In his hands was the missing cup.

"Ha, losers..." he laughed and took a sip of the tea, "It took you long enough to notice..."

The group suddenly jumped to their feet and Mai quickly slapped Kuwabara upside the head, "Dammit, couldn't you sense him?!" the redhead winced and rubbed his scalp. But the intruder merely laughed again.

"Well if that's the way you all are going to fight tomorrow, you guys are as good as dead..." the child smirk.

"You're not welcomed here," Kurama told him dryly.

The kid shrugged, "Serves you right for not sensing me in the first place—"

"Shut up, Rinku," said a cool voice from the open door. The Urameshi team now turned their attention to the demon standing in the doorway. He had blonde hair and paler skin and wore a navy blue shirt.

Rinku also turned his head and grinned, "Oh hey, Zeru! I was just checking out the competition," he said and glanced a bit distastefully towards the sleeping Detective, "Looks like an easy fight with these guys..."

Mai picked up her staff and jabbed it towards the child, "Say that again and I'll break your neck," the girl threatened, and he sweat-dropped while backing off a little bit. Zeru—the demon behind him—narrowed his eyes.

"See you tomorrow," he told them calmly and as Rinku jumped down from the dresser, he turned back and pointed towards the spare teacup. A thin line appeared along the porcelain before it suddenly shattered and the tea sloshed over the saucer.

Zeru smirked, "I'll enjoy watching you all lose..."

-:6:-

Mai's PoV

I couldn't sleep, that was for sure. All I could do was lie on the couch and listen to Yusuke's steady breathing next to me on the other couch. I stared out into the darkness silently and clutched my pillow tightly to my chest. My eyes glanced slowly towards Urameshi and sighed when I hear him muttered several profanities in his sleep.

"Be careful tomorrow, Yusuke..." I murmured to him.

-:6:-

crappy, yes I know, I promise it will get better, I've just been a little off lately...

Ciao everyone!! I gtg to rehearsal!!


	7. Seikoki

DISCLAIMER: I don't own yyh! Despite the fact that I would really really really want to, I don't—but I do own my own characters: Ryu, Kira, and Mai and the fact that Kira is the demon half of Mai...but anyways...

A/N: HIYA EVERYONE!!!!!! Wow, it's not even noon and I'm unbelievably hyper! LoL, my friends know how that is; I just don't stop talking once I get on a sugar high!! ::spins around in chair:: WEEEEEEEEEEE!!!

LoL, anyways this chapter might suck since there won't be much excitement in it—a little mystery perhaps, but not much excitement...plus I did sort of change the summary that I had from my profile (gomen if I throw you guys off a little bit in this chapter!)

MWAHAHAHAHAHA!!

Whoa, I got a little crazy then...ha, well on another note; I hope you guys were able to watch the new yyh episode for this week! I thought it was pretty funny, only because of the fact that Yusuke was pretty stupid for firing at the truck with Kuwabara on it.

Wow, I'm just talking way too much, so let's just get on with the fic!

WAIT WAIT WAIT!!! I FORGOT THAT I EDITTED CH. 10&11 IN FIRE DANCER!! Please go check it out!! There will be foreshadowing for the Chapter Black Saga!!!

Thanks to my reviewers!

Umeko Saito: don't worry! I've got everything figured out (LoL, even into the Chapter Black Saga)

Little Sakura 87

Naoko Asakura 009

Aikiera

XxXRoseVixenXxX

TonyDiMerasbedroomslave

Sarah1281

WARNING: THIS CHAPTER _WILL_ CONTAIN SPOILERS FROM ABOUT FIFTEEN EPISODES FROM THIS ONE!!!!

_Thoughts/Flashbacks_

'_Kira'_

_Fire Angel_

::Seikoki::

Mai's PoV

What woke me up the next morning, I wasn't quite sure, but when I did open my eyes it was still dark outside. Cautiously, I lifted my head from the pillow and glanced around the hotel room. The window was open to the balcony. Curtains billowed from the nightly wind and skipped across the floor.

Yawning, I stretched and grabbed the clothes I had laid out earlier and headed into the bathroom. I quietly slipped off my top and pajama bottoms and tugged on the pair of red baggy pants with a pink kimono-styled top. Absently, I twisted my hair up into a bun and let a few unruly strands hang in front of my face.

As I made my way back into the main room, I tugged on my training shoes over my feet and pulled open the door again.

But I froze suddenly when I noticed the small, masked figure waiting by the main door. They turned to me as I exited the bathroom. I saw them watching me with their golden brown eyes and they folded their hands behind their back.

"Are you ready?"

I sighed and nodded slowly before answering and following them through the door, "Yeah."

-:7:-

_Mai's pen scratched lazily across the pad of paper as she placed her head in her hands wearily. She yawned and carefully set the writing utensil down on the desk, staring down at her work thus far. _

"_Five pages of absolutely nothing..." she told herself dourly and slammed the cover of the notebook down weakly before rubbing her temples and sighing._

_She stopped suddenly, though when the scent of roses entered her nose and she looked up at a single blood-red rose placed gently on the desk._

Weird..._she thought, _That wasn't there before..._but then she smiled and carefully stroked the silk-like petals between her fingers._

"_Goodnight Kurama," she whispered to what seemed like no one, but somewhere she knew he was nearby..._

(A/N: yes that part was random, gomen ne, you guys, but I'm going to be fitting little tidbits like this into the story...so...)

-:7:-

The Guardian followed obediently behind the masked fighter as they led her through the darkness of the woods. Silence followed them both; not even their footsteps made any noise along the dew-encrusted earth. The animals of the night had retreated from the now-rising sun forming over the horizon. The pair said nothing as they continued to travel into the forest, until at last they came to a lonely enclosure.

Mai trailed behind until the fighter stopped near the center and she planted her staff softly on the ground. The Masked Fighter turned to the Guardian with their hands still behind their back, but Mai still said nothing.

"'Reflexes'?" the fighter questioned sarcastically and the girl sensed them raise and eyebrow.

She puffed out her cheeks slightly, "It was the best I could come up with," she mumbled defiantly and folded her arms over her abdomen, but the fighter chuckled softly and lifted the cloth around her head. Mai didn't seem surprised though, when Genkai's grayish pink hair tumbled from beneath the mask.

The Guardian plopped wearily onto the moist earth and carelessly fiddled with a lock of her hair between her fingers, "So what's on the agenda today, Genkai?"

The old woman folded her arms over her chest, "Seikoki," she replied simply.

Mai gave her a quizzical look, "Seikoki?" she repeated, "What the hell is that?"

Genkai continued to stand and watched the girl carefully, "Kira didn't tell you then," the woman stated.

She shook her head, "Tell me what?"

"Saint Light Energy," Genkai continued while sitting down on a nearby boulder and crossing her legs, "Kira was one of the few people who were able to master it..." she looked as if she was going to add on to that statement, but decided against it, "Her demon form allowed her to learn it much quicker than it would have for a human..."

The Guardian raised an eyebrow and was about to respond when the old woman cut her off.

"Her spirit has begun to fade away entirely..." she went on rather somberly; "Now that you have gotten stronger, both you and Kira have slowly started to fuse together; her powers have transferred over to you now that her soul is fading—"

"Wait, wait!" Mai stopped her, "So I'm killing Kira as I get stronger?!"

Genkai shook her head, "That's not quite it; there will be a time when Kira will no longer exist as an individual spirit...Technically you could say that _you_ would be Kira."

She blinked as she tried to comprehend what she was saying, "You're confusing me, Genkai; why in the world hasn't Kira told me any of this?! And what does Kira becoming me—or the other way around—have to do with the Saint Light thingy?"

"I was getting to that if you would just let me finish," the old woman said and narrowed her eyes slightly. Mai flushed and obediently went quiet as Genkai sighed, "Like I was saying, as you Kira begin to merge, her powers and energy are transferring over to you. If you've noticed, she hasn't been speaking with you that often," Mai nodded slowly, "It's becoming difficult to make contact with you as she is growing weaker..." the woman stared at her for a moment, "Now that you have come in her place, she no longer needs to wait, and is finally letting her soul move on and pass her powers on to you..."

The Guardian stared down at her hands. So...so Kira would no longer be a part of her? It would feel so strange without that comforting presence lurking in the back of her mind all those times...But if what Genkai said was true, then there was probably nothing she could do to stop it from coming; to protect Yusuke, she had to get stronger as he got stronger...

Even if that meant destroying Kira in the process...

"And the Seikoki?" Mai continued in a soft, sad whisper, "What does that have to do with any of this?"

Genkai examined the girl carefully, "Since she had mastered the Saint Light Energy, this trait of Kira's is slowly passing on to you...Although you will have the ability to use the technique, it is not a gift you can just take and use; you have to learn how to control it."

"What if I don't want to learn how to control it?" the girl challenged softly, the grim reality seeping in around her, "What if I just leave it alone?"

The old woman folded her arms, "The mere capacity to withhold the power of this energy is too much for you as you are; if you were to merely leave it alone, it would eventually tear you apart from the inside out until there was nothing left."

"Well that's pleasant..." Mai mumbled and absently dragged her finger through the dewdrops along the blades of grass, "So if I was to 'master' this energy, would...would I..." a brief memory flashed before her eyes; a massive figure standing amidst the crumbled garage as the two teenagers stood helplessly before them _'__I propose and invitation to you, Detective'... his eyes flashed towards Mai, 'And the girl if she's willing...' _The Guardian gnawed gently on her lip; "Would I be able to protect Yusuke against Toguro?" the words came out as hardly a whisper.

Something flashed across Genkai's eyes when the girl said this...Was it understanding? Pain?

...Sadness?

It took a moment before the woman responded, the shimmer in her eyes suddenly gone, "It depends on if you're willing to train, Mai...I'm afraid that if you are able to master the Seikoki, there is nothing else I can teach you," she smiled sadly.

Mai weighed her decisions quietly—as if there were any. The Guardian glanced quickly down at the ground. In her mind, she faintly sensed Kira listening to the conversation and mentally sent her affirmation of what Genkai was saying. But...without the former Guardian inside of her, it would feel so...so empty...

And then there was Yusuke...he would eventually get stronger; she needed to grow with him or she would be useless to him. This Seikoki—this Saint Light Energy—would be able to make her stronger, but at the same time, it would finish off Kira once and for all. Mai hugged her side, suddenly feeling vulnerable.

But the former Guardian had trusted her this far; she had counseled her until now and hadn't let her take on any battle alone; she was always there waiting in the back of her mind...She was trusting her now to make the right decision...

If Kira were to pass on...would that mean that a part of her would die with her? Mai ran her fingers through her hair fervently and sighed.

The decision now weighed:

It was either Kira...or Yusuke...

Tears now filled her eyes and she clenched them shut, letting her pearly teardrops trickle down her cheeks. It seemed as though either way she would lose; if she chose to train and control the Seikoki, then Kira would eventually perish...but if she chose to leave it alone, she would eventually die herself and Yusuke would be left to fend for himself...

"Gods..." she murmured to no one. Genkai still watched her, but said nothing as she continued to struggle with her decision.

Kira was a part of her; without her, it would seem so lonely...

But Yusuke needed her now...

He was her charge and she needed to fulfill her duty to him...Even if it meant destroying a part of her in the process.

Yusuke was a lot more important than simply losing a part of herself; without...without him she would be nothing anyway...

Sunlight suddenly danced along her fingers, sending a sudden dull morning warmth through her body. Mai shivered slightly and gently raised her palm upwards towards the light. The shadow of the tree limbs above quietly danced across her skin and seemed to hold her in a trance

Mai blinked and a teardrop plummeted onto her palm.

_Forgive me Kira..._

And faintly from the back of her mind, the Guardian received a weak response:

'_I already have, Mai...'_

The girl attempted to stifle a small sob, but failed and quietly wiped away her tears from her eyes. As she glanced upwards at Genkai, she already knew that the old woman realized what had happened between the two Guardians.

"Yusuke would be grateful if he knew what you have done," the old woman said softly and examined her as the Guardian turned her head to hide her tears.

She didn't reply though, but kept her eyes to the ground. Her eyes stung with her tears and her face was sodden.

But no longer did she feel the Guardian's presence comforting her from inside her mind...

Kira was already beginning to fade away; too weak to reach out to her.

Genkai observed the girl a little longer before standing, "Well, are you going to train today, or just sit around and blubber for the next twenty-four hours?"

Mai sat there a moment almost as if she wasn't going to bother, but then she sniffed and shakily rose to her feet, shaking her head, "But won't the others be missing us?"

The old woman shrugged her shoulders, "Probably...That is if we don't make it back before they all wake up."

The Guardian forced a weak smile despite her sudden loss of companionship, "Then I guess that means we better get started then..."

-:7:-

A/N: omgosh that was crappy

Sorry guys, but since I didn't update last week, I just wanted to get this chapter out there, plus is sort of sets up the setting for an occasional plot twist later on...

Ah well, I hope you guys enjoyed it as much as you can, I gtg to bed now! HURRAY FOR THE SEMIFINALS!!! GO GRIZZLIES!!!!!!! LoL, our volleyball team is attempting revenge on the team that beat us in the finals last year, so we gotta win tomorrow!

Wish us luck!

Peace and Luv!!!

PS: ahhhh!! I promise I'll try and make the next chapter better peoples!!!!!


	8. The First Fight

DISCLAIMER: I don't own any yyh. I don't. Don't ask me. But I do own Mai, Kira, Ryu and all my original works including the plotline.

A/N: yay Halloween!! Even though I probably won't get this chapter up until after tonight, I hope all of you stay safe—and get as much candy as you want! WHEEEEEEEEEEE!! Lol, plus I get my braces off tomorrow! I'm so happy, LoL, but I think all my friends are out to get me because of it ::nervous laugh::

Anywhos...I'm not quite sure how this chapter will end up, so don't hate me! I've waited too long anyways to update, so I'm just sort of trying to keep you guys from going haywire if I don't update ::sweatdrop::

Thankies to my reviewers!

Umeko Saito: you actually thought that was a lot of Yusuke/Mai fluffiness? Hm, I wasn't really trying to put so much in there; I only meant it that way because they're detective and guardian, so they're kinda supposed to care about one another...o well—you should be happy though; lots of Kurama fluffiness this chapter!!

NOTE: Seikoki is actually Japanese for Saint Light Energy (I saw it when I was looking through some episodes for future ideas)

Sarah1281: ::twitch:: you told everyone my name...::twitchtwitch:: and now I can't delete it!!!

Naoko Asakura 009

TonyDiMerasbedroomslave

(Ah, and just so you guys know—if you even care, LoL—my team lost in the semifinals ::sniff:: but thanks for your support)

_Thoughts/Flashback_

'_Kira'_

_Fire Angel_

::The First Fight::

Mai heard them even as the team passed beneath the stadium; hundreds upon hundreds of demons chanting and shouting above them; lusting for the sight of blood...

_Their _blood.

The Guardian shivered and clutched Kira's staff protectively to her chest. She felt her heart pounding in her rib cage and she glanced quickly up at the rest of the gang in front of her. She knew it was in them too; she could sense it as if it hung in the air...as if she could reach out and touch it.

With each step her body trembled and she had to place her staff in front of her for support. And without Kira to help her out on this one, she felt very much alone.

She shut her eyes tightly as her grip on Kira's staff tightened as if she was trying to squeeze the last remainder of the former Guardian from the last physical trace she had left. But all that remained behind was the faint sense that Kira was gone...

"Koi?"

Mai quickly glanced upwards into Kurama's emerald green eyes. The red head smiled reassuringly, but the Guardian's bottom lip trembled as she fought back her tears.

And out of the blue, she suddenly wrapped her arms around his chest and sobbed into his shirt. He gently placed his hand on her head and stroked his fingers through her hair as she took shuddering breaths.

"Kurama, I'm scared..." she murmured. In front of them, the rest of the team slowed to a halt to wait on the remaining two.

"And why is that?" he inquired softly, "You have nothing to be afraid of, Mai..."

The Guardian was about to answer him, but held back; how was she to tell him that she was afraid of Yusuke getting hurt when the Detective wasn't even conscious? Why wasn't she worried as much about Kurama? Maybe it was because she knew he could take care of himself; that he wasn't reckless and stupid like Urameshi.

She meekly wiped her tears from her eyes with her palm and laughed hollowly, "You must think I'm so weak...to cry like this..."

He merely smiled at her and softly drew her closer to him. Her fingers tenderly stroked the fabric of his shirt and she let her remaining tears trickle down her cheeks.

_But I am weak..._she thought_...It's been Kira all along giving me my strength; without her I'm just some helpless child..._

"Just...Just be careful today Kurama-san..." she whispered into his shirt.

The red-head looked down at her and rested his head gently on hers, "I will, Mai...don't worry..."

She sniffed rather loudly before slowly released herself from his touch. Frustrated now for allowing herself to break down like that, she irritably wiped the remaining tears from her eyes and brushed a strand of hair out of her eyes.

"Promise?" she demanded quietly.

Kurama nodded and smiled sadly, "Yes, I promise."

"You guys ready now or what?" Kazuma called from ahead of them, "Anymore of this stalling and I think I might go crazy."

Hiei, who stood next to him, snorted, "Good, then we could send you to an asylum and we wouldn't have to listen to the constant flapping of your mouth."

Kuwabara's face flushed an angry red, "What was that, shrimp?!"

But Mai had come up from behind them and swiftly smacked Kazuma over the head with her staff, "Cool it," she ordered calmly, "We're fighting Team Rikkuyoukai not each other..."

She died out then when the walls around them rumbled with the mighty chanting of the demons above them.

The rest of the team heard it also and went quiet—not that it made any difference to the masked fighter; it wasn't as if they had anything to say to group anyway. But the dull thunder did not die down, but got louder with each passing moment.

Looking at one another, they nodded and without saying another word, they slowly made their way down the hallway once more.

Mai took a shuddering breath and fingered the cool metal of her staff between her fingers...

So this was it...

-:8:-

"Welcome to the Dark Tournament, everyone!! I'm Koto, your announcer!" the rather cheery fox-demon chirped through the microphone, "Now who's ready to see a little blood and gore?"

The stadium erupted with the roars from the other demons, some of them shouting profanities at the Urameshi team standing along the outside of the ring. They hissed angrily; it was as if the team of humans (with the exception of Kurama and Hiei) tainted the battle field.

Kuwabara folded his arms and frowned, "Well screw 'em," he muttered darkly and Mai hushed him as if the crowd could hear them. There wasn't a single friendly face amidst the audience; all hateful glares and leers.

But then, several cheers could be heard across the stadium. Team Urameshi glanced over towards the other side of the battle field and realized that they were cheering for the approaching team.

There were five of them; two of them already recognizable to the group. Zeru seemed a little too calm for comfort as well did the rest of the team. The little child, Rinku had a rather large grin plastered on his face and he placed his hands behind his head. The other three they hadn't met...though it wasn't though they wanted to. One was a blue-skinned demon with even darker blue hair. The remainder of the team was the two taller demons; one looking much like a hippie and the other was a stronger brute with dark hair.

Koto hopped onto the ring now and raised her hand into the air, "Alright everybody! On my left we have Team Urameshi!"

The stadium filled up with the single note of 'boos' and hisses. Team Urameshi returned with distasteful glares at the demons.

"And on my right...Team Rikkuyoukai!!"

Their boos turned to cheers and the crowd stamped their feet wildly. Their opponents grinned and Rinku waved at the demons in the audience.

The announcer grinned as well and gestured to the two groups, "Leaders of both teams come on up!"

From the other side of the arena, Zeru made his way towards the center of the ring. The Urameshi team however was left unmanned while Yusuke lay sleeping and unconscious along the stone wall nearby.

"I'll go for Urameshi," Kazuma decided.

Mai's brow furrowed, but she didn't object. It seemed right for her to go in Yusuke's stead, but then again, she wasn't one to stand before several hundred demons wishing she and the others were dead.

The red-head stepped onto center to confront Zeru. Koto stepped between them with the microphone still attached to her hand.

The blonde-haired demon smirked, "One-on-one sound good to you?" he suggested coolly.

Kuwabara nodded, but didn't reply. For a baka he was taking this on with a strong sense of confidence, Mai decided as the red-head started to leave the arena.

But before he had taken more than a few steps, Zeru suddenly chuckled darkly and his body suddenly erupted into flames. Kazuma turned back around quickly as the rest of the Urameshi team looked on in and awe-filled fear as several fireballs erupted from the demon's flesh.

Zeru smirked and abruptly sent flames charging into the stadium and everywhere around them. Mai raised her hands in front of her creating a barrier around her team while many of the demons in the audience became obliterated by the fire Zeru had created.

The flames around him, after a moment or so, died down and the demon stepped off the ring without a word. The Guardian lowered her shield cautiously as Kazuma continued to stand in the arena.

Koto blinked uncertainly, "Uh...well for all of you who are still alive, both teams have decided on one-on-one battles. Both teams send in your first fighters!"

Kuwabara turned his head towards the group, "I'll take the first one, guys,"

Across the ring, the child Rinku grinned toothily and hopped onto the arena. Kazuma's face fell slightly; disappointed that he had to fight one of the lesser fighters of the team...though his opponent was probably thinking the same thing.

Rinku laughed, "Man, this is gonna suck for you!" he told the red-head while his hands still rested behind his head.

"Wh-What did you say to me, punk?!" Kuwabara challenged dangerously; his face growing a bright red.

But before he could do anything drastic, Koto raised her hand over her head and swiftly brought it down, "Let the first fight begin!!"

The two fighters stood ready, but made no move to fight quite yet. Their eyes were locked on one another; glaring one another down while trying to sway their opponent down.

Then Rinku smirked and suddenly disappeared from sight. Kuwabara stepped back in surprise and stared around the stage cautiously. But then the child reappeared a moment or two later hopping about the arena; his agility making him almost invisible. He continued to taunt Kazuma and jumped around him.

Kuwabara grunted when his opponent suddenly punched him in the stomach and vanished, only to reappear again and kicked him in the chin.

"Dammit, you stupid little punk," the red-head muttered and whipped his head around; trying to find Rinku.

His eyes widened slightly as he became aware of exactly what the child was doing.

_He's leaving a trail..._Kazuma discerned when he noticed the faint outline of Rinku remaining shortly after he zipped out of view_...That little bastard..._

Kuwabara waited a little longer...just enough so that Rinku would try and throw another punch at him...

Suddenly, the child grunted painfully as the red-head socked him in the chest. Time seemed to slow down as the opponent was sent flying into the air.

Rinku crashed into the ground, causing several of the tiles below him to crack. Kuwabara smirked triumphantly when his adversary didn't get up right away.

But after a moment, Rinku shakily got to his feet; his pride shattered suddenly. Angry now, he charged at Kazuma, disappeared in his speed. The red-head however sensed him once more and knocked him down before the child could throw a punch.

Angry boos now rumbled through the crowd.

"Come on, Rinku!! Get your ass in gear!"

"Don't let these filthy humans beat you!!"

The child frowned darkly as Kuwabara started to charge after him, "You're going down, punk!!"

But before he could land a hit, Rinku dodged his blow; disappearing once again.

Suddenly, his opponent materialized to his left. But before he could react, Rinku swiftly swung his leg around and into Kazuma's neck.

A sickening crack could be heard throughout the stadium. From the sidelines, Mai winced and drew in a sharp breath when she noticed the rather painful angle that Kazuma's neck was in.

Koto quickly rushed to the scene of the attack and observed the red-head carefully before addressing the crowd, counting down.

"One!...Two!...Three!..."

Rinku laughed and turned his head back towards his team, "Hah, I thought it would be funny to make him think that he could win...what a loser!"

"Four!...Five!..."

"The poor bastard is dead!" the child grinned at his handiwork, "It's not like he'll be getting up anytime soon—!"

But even as he said this, Kuwabara suddenly began to stir. The red-head slowly lifted himself off the ground and Koto stopped her count. He rolled his neck and the position of his head returned to normal. The Guardian's eye ticked slightly at the sickening sound, but Kazuma smirked.

"You're going down, Shorty," the red-head informed him darkly.

-:8:-

A/N: yeah well it was short...and well...just a little jumpy I should say; I haven't seen this episode for awhile so I'm having to look it up on a bunch of fansites ::nervous laugh::

Ah well I hope you guys enjoyed!

DO YOU GUYS WANT KEIKO TO BE IN THE STORY TOO??? PLEASE TELL ME IN YOUR REVIEWS!!

Ciao! Peace and Luv!


	9. Kuwabara's Fight

DISCLAIMER: I don't own yyh, but I do own Mai and all my original characters and original storyline…yay? Lol

A/N: holy crap I'm finally updating!! ::nervous laugh:: although I have kinda been neglecting this story entirely when I started a new one…er…yeah sorry about that; lately I just haven't been in the mood to write this; I've been having a few issues and just the entire school-thing has been somewhat stressful lately…

But I really must give you guys my deepest apologies for not updating for awhile…but I must warn you that this chapter will have a lot of Kurama/Mai fluffiness and very little Kuwabara-getting-his-ass-kicked because I'm probably going to use this chapter as more of a flashback…as well as the next chapter too…but since I don't really feel up to writing Kuwabara-asswhooping stuff right now, que sera sera…

But thank you to all of those who reviewed!

Sarah1281: I didn't say she perfected it, did I? so you'll just have to find out : )

Umeko Saito: o no!! you stopped your story??!! I was really enjoying it! And I mean it! And I'm sorry that the Imaginary Files scared you…I didn't really think it was that scary ::laughs nervously:: but anywhos…I'm still thinking over the Keiko thing, so nothing's final and stuff…

TonyDiMerasbedroomslave: I'll keep that in mind! Thanx! I was just kinda looking for ways to make the plot a little thicker and more challenging for all of our little favorite characters!

XxXRoseVixenXxX: I'll also keep a note of your opinions too! Thank you so much for reviewing!

Naoko Asakura 009: you bet there'll be Kurama/Mai scenes! I may not have them paired up in this story, but I just can't help but liking Kurama!! Thanx for your review!

Dolphingirl32173: That's kinda what I was thinking! But I just want to know if it's alright with my other reviewers if i add her in to the story. But I'm glad you like this story! I'm so glad to find someone else who enjoys this fic!

_Fire Angel_

:: Kuwabara's Fight:: (yes sucky title)

"_Kurama! Kurama hurry up or we're gonna miss our train!" the girl beamed as she dragged the redhead across the platform; beaming brightly._

_He smiled serenely and followed her without complaint, "And where are we going again, Mai?" he pondered teasingly and nudged her in the side, "Enough of your secrets, where are you taking me this time?"_

_The Guardian giggled, "I told you before, I'm not telling; it's a secret!" she chimed and turned towards the tracks as the steam engine pulled up to the platform. In her hand she carried a bag nearly bulging with its contents, Kurama eyed it suspiciously, but she caught him looking and grinned without saying a word…_

The guardian suddenly jolted out of her thoughts when a sudden crashing sound sent her back into reality. She blinked quickly as her attention returned to the battle going on in the ring…How could she have zoned out like that? It was the Dark Tournament for crying out loud!

Her eyes slowly scrolled towards Kurama standing next to her. His expression was grave as he watched Kuwabara continue to fight with Rinku…and start to lose…

Behind them, the thunderous chants of the audience drowned out almost the entire battle and seemed to cause the earth to tremble. The noise was deafening and Mai silently closed her eyes to block out the sound…

So much hatred…

She felt herself sway slightly and she staggered to keep her balance. Her hand went to her head as it began to throb painfully…

Suddenly, from beside her, she heard Kurama cry out in surprise and she quickly glanced upwards towards the arena.

Either opponent stood on each end of the ring facing one another. Kuwabara had unsheathed his double spirit sword…but his enemy was now suddenly surrounded with a deep, demonic aura…and several snake-like yoyos that entwined around him.

"His spirit energy is rising…" Hiei stated quietly without taking his eyes off of the fight.

Both Kurama and Mai agreed and watched on nervously as their companion eyed the tiny fighter uncertainly.

"I should warn you…that I'm much stronger with my weapons in hand…" Rinku smirked deviously, "So I'd watch your back if I were you!"

And even as he was saying this, the yoyos in his hands suddenly whipped out towards Kazuma. The redhead staggered in surprise, but then quickly regained his senses and tightened his grip on the two swords.

He made a swift effort to charge after his opponent and his weapon by making vigorous swipes at the yoyos entangled in the air. But as the team continued to watch, they soon realized that no matter how he tried to attack the strings, they would find some way to avoid the blade of his sword.

Rinku laughed deceitfully at Kazuma's attempts, and the redhead paused when his eyes widened in understanding, his fists tightening angrily.

"His spirit energy is being transferred into the yoyos…" Kurama observed what his team mate had finally discovered, "He's bending them at his own will."

Mai stared up at him curiously before understanding what he was talking about. It was true, she decided when she glanced back towards the arena; Rinku's spirit energy could be sensed traveling through the yoyos as Kuwabara tried to avoid them…

Despondently, the Guardian realized that it would be nearly impossible for him to avoid any of his opponent's attacks.

But the child took no notice of Kuwabara's anger and retrieved his weapons from the air, preparing to strike again. Kazuma was ready, however…

All of a sudden, Rinku's yoyos lashed out at the redhead with such speed that it was unlikely that he would be able to maneuver around them.

Kuwabara however, unexpectedly raised his swords over his head as the weapons charged towards him.

"You're going down, punk!" he roared. Swinging them downwards, they collided with the stone blocks beneath him, causing the debris to fly up around him and into the paths of the weapons.

He smirked at his cunning while it appeared as though his tactics had stopped the yoyos from coming any closer—

That is until they broke through his barricade of rubble.

Kuwabara suddenly cried out in pain as Rinku's weapons hit him dead on; drilling into his flesh with a massive force. The rest of his team cried out in surprise as he was thrown to the ground. Kazuma skidded across the arena until he nearly fell off the platform. Shakily, he rose to his feet as he panted heavily.

Rinku frowned however that his attack hadn't harmed him as much as he had hoped. Angrily, he sent his weapon charging after the redhead and the yoyos continued to pummel him by whipping through the air quickly so that he couldn't evade the attack. Kuwabara grunted painfully as the yoyos drilled into his chest, back, and arms…

"Dammit Kuwabara!" Mai cried desperately, and took a step closer towards the ring, "Fight back!"

She suddenly staggered as the world around her began to spin. The Guardian clutched her head and closed her eyes uncertainly as she felt her body tremble from fatigue…

_Dammit…I knew Genkai's training would drain me…but I didn't realize it would be this much…_

Before she could stop herself, her body collapsed onto the ground; spinning her into her world of darkness

_I'm sorry, Yusuke…_she thought weakly to herself.

"Mai!" Kurama swiftly knelt next to her as she fell to the earth and flet her forehead. But her temperature was normal…just as she had seemed only moments before.

Hiei suddenly appeared next to him as he continued to inspect the Guardian, "What happened to her?"

The redhead briefly glanced up at the ring where Kazuma continued to battle Rinku, but was also getting his ass kicked by the child's yoyos. Kurama then lifted Mai into his arms and gently brought her next to the place where Yusuke continued to sleep as well…

"I guess we're down ourselves now," he said quietly, "I think the training she received with Yusuke and Genkai has finally caught up with her."

Hiei cracked his knuckles, "More fun for us then," he muttered.

The redhead didn't answer, but silently brushed a strand of the girl's crimson hair out of her eyes. She sighed as if sensing his presence and shifted her position slightly as if searching for the source of the warmth.

_Rest peacefully, Mai…_he thought quietly to himself, _we'll make sure that we win this round for you…_

-:-

"_Close your eyes, Kurama-kun!" the Guardian chimed as the train slowed to a halt. The redhead laughed along with her cheerfulness and followed her directions, but just to make sure; Mai moved behind him and placed her hands gently over his emerald orbs._

_The pair maneuvered awkwardly out of the train and onto the platform. From behind him, Kurama heard Mai giggle softly as the caws of seagulls resounded above them._

_It was a few more moments before the Guardian removed her hands from his eyes and the redhead blinked as the sun blazed above them. She clapped her hands together and jumped in front of him, her arms outspread as if to model the sight before them. _

"_Ta da!!!" she laughed and backed away so that Kurama could see the wide expanse of the turquoise ocean before them. _

_He laughed too, "So this is why you've been keeping all your secrets?"_

_Mai nodded and quickly clasped her hand around his while dragging him onto the beach, "Come on! I brought your swimsuit too!" and she giggled even louder when she noticed the red-head blushing. _

"_Come on Kurama-san! I promise you'll have fun!"_

-:-

Rinku smirked as his yoyos recoiled back to his hands. He watched triumphantly as Kuwabara lay helplessly wounded on the arena floor after being hit continuously with his opponent's weapons.

But his grin suddenly vanished from his face as the redhead began to rise from the ground. He clenched his fists angrily as Kazuma began to stand, but Kuwabara did not relent from showing the same agitation towards Rinku.

"Dammit!" the child yelled angrily, "What's it gonna take to kill you?!"

"Finish him off!!" someone from the stadium cried.

"Yeah! Kill the filthy human bastard!"

Kurama and Hiei glanced at the crowd from the sidelines as they continued to chant profanities towards their teammate and throw insults at Rinku for not killing Kazuma off by now. The masked fighter beside them said nothing but kept their attention on the fight going on.

"You're going down, punk! I've had enough of you playing around with me!" Kuwabara muttered furiously at his opponent.

The child clenched his teeth while clutching his weapons in his hands angrily.

Unexpectedly, Rinku threw out his hand, letting the yoyos charge after the redhead across from him. And before he could cry out, Kazuma was suddenly entangled in the strings of Rinku's weapons.

"I'm getting tired of this," Kazuma's opponent replied, and suddenly he whipped the redhead into the air above him; sending him flying high above the stadium. Kuwabara cried out in both surprise and fear as he hovered suddenly over a hundred feet off the ground.

"A fall from that high in the air could kill him!" Kurama cried out in alarm.

"Looks like this match is about ready to come to an end!" Koto yelled into the microphone excitedly as if anticipating the moment Kazuma would plummet to the earth, "Any minute now we might be able to see some blood and gore along the arena floor!" she paused suddenly, "Oh! I just rhymed!"

"Oh that's pleasant!!" they heard Kuwabara cry from above them, "Get me the hell down from here, dammit!!!"

-:-

"_Are you ready, Kurama?" Mai called from outside of the changing room and in response, the redhead's quiet mumbling could be heard._

_She frowned slightly, "Kurama? Oh come on, it can't be that bad!! Hell, I'm sitting out here in a bikini for crying out loud!"_

_There was a bit of shuffling before the changing room door slowly creaked open to reveal Kurama's head peeking meekly out from beyond, "Promise you won't laugh?" he mumbled self-consciously._

_Mai laughed and smiled encouragingly; giving him a scout's solute, "I promise, Kurama-san!"_

_He sighed and opened the door fully. The Guardian watched as he stepped outside wearing a pair of forest-green trunks and a towel draped nervously over his shoulders. Mai blushed furiously when she noticed his well-toned muscles beneath his towel…_

_The redhead scratched his head nervously, "Um…well…"_

_She paused briefly, but suddenly laughed and the redhead eyed her curiously; she smiled and cocked her head innocently, "I'm sorry! I just expected with you acting so self-conscious that your mom had forced you to buy a speedo or something!" her smile grew bigger at her own attempt at a joke and Kurama grinned as well._

_The Guardian then quickly grabbed his hand and began to drag him towards the shore, "Come on! We're wasting daylight!" she beamed and skipped off towards the cerulean water lining the beach._

_He laughed, "Alright, alright! I'm coming, Mai!" and quickly ran after her into the sea._

_Droplets of crystal water sprayed around them as the waves lifted them up and down. Mai couldn't keep herself from laughing as she lifted her hands to the sky and seemed to twirl around in the water; as if embracing the beauty around her. _

_Kurama smiled gently as she continued to enjoy herself in the vast ocean. He watched as she closed her eyes and allowed the sun to bask over her. _

_But from behind her, an unexpected wave suddenly collided with her. She cried out in surprise as she fell forward right into Kurama._

_The pair was suddenly forced underwater as the wave passed over them. By the time they were able to come up, they were both coughing up the salt-water they had gathered in their fall._

_Kurama quickly glanced towards the crimson-haired girl in front of him, "Are you alright, Mai—?"_

_He was suddenly cut off as the girl began to laugh cheerfully and brushed her hand through her now drenched hair._

"_Oops!" she giggled and merely splashed back into the water. Curious, Kurama followed after her and dove beneath the surface as well._

_Beneath the water, he glanced around quickly for Mai when he felt a soft tap on his shoulder. He spun around quickly, only to have his lips come in contact with Mai's._

_He noticed her eyes grow wide in surprise, but then they softened and relaxed slightly. When they pulled away they looked at one another curiously, but the Guardian grinned encouragingly and then drew him to her again._

_The two locked lips with one another and let the sweet, sultry drifting current sway them back and forth; but neither of them noticed whilst they were already occupied with the tender caress of one another…_

I love you, Kurama…_the Guardian murmured mentally to him as they continued to drift beneath the surface…_

-:-

A/N: yeah, well it was a little awkward, yes…but I just didn't have any ideas for this chapter, so I apologize for it being so short, but I just wanted to update so that you all were satisfied for awhile…

I HOPE YOU LIKED THE KURAMA/MAI FLUFFINESS!!

Please review! And if you're new and haven't told me your opinions on whether or not Keiko should be in this story or who Mai should fight, I would gladly appreciate any advice you have for me!

Please enjoy!

Ciao!!


	10. Flowers of Blood

DISCLAIMER: I don't own yyh. But I do own my original characters and original plot, so please, if you want to use some of my ideas ask first.

A/N: well since the stupid updating system is disabled and doesn't exactly tell us when it will be up, I'm just gonna start this next chapter. But I'll try and get both of them up as soon as I can.

MajinShodaime: Thank you for pointing that out. LoL, I kind of had a little trouble when I wrote that chapter because I couldn't remember how to spell their team name, so I wasn't sure if the way I spelled it was right. But thank you for those corrections!

Dolphingirl32173: oh! Poor Kurama and his dignity! LoL, ah but don't worry! He'll get it back eventually, haha.

XxXRoseVixenXxX: LoL, I'm glad you liked the fluffiness! I'm going to put a few more incidences like this in later…::coughcoughsomewithyusukecoughcough::

_Fire Angel_

::Flowers of Blood::

Kuwabara continued to dangle helplessly above the stadium as the crowd jeered and watched mockingly while waiting for him to plummet to his death. His teammates watched worriedly (all save for Hiei) as Rinku kept his victim at bay.

"What the hell!" Rinku suddenly shouted from across the platform, "Why don't you just die and get this over with?!"

Kuwabara clenched his fists from above him, "'Cause I'm not gonna let a little punk beat me!"

"I've already won, dumbass!" his opponent returned, "You're just too stupid to realize it yet!"

Kazuma's temple throbbed, "Wh-What did you say to me?!" he demanded.

"You heard me!" Rinku yelled back and his grip tightened on his weapons before his eyes narrowed dangerously, "It's time to finish this match, dammit!"

To the horror of the Urameshi team, Rinku suddenly withdrew the yoyos from around Kazuma's wrists and ankles.

His cry of terror echoed through the stadium as he began to plummet towards the earth. His teammates watched helplessly as he continued to fall with no means of slowing down or stopping himself.

But then they saw him place his hands in front of him and his spirit sword appeared. Only this time when he called it forth, it abruptly extended towards the arena as he continued to fall.

It seemed as though the entire stadium froze in a silent awe as the redhead kept his sword pointed downwards towards the stadium. And as the fighter grew closer to the arena floor, his weapon made contact with the tiles beneath him.

The sword stuck fast and appeared to bend to Kuwabara's will as the weapon leaned to the redhead's weight and Kazuma was sent flying towards the other side of the ring and straight towards Rinku.

Knocked defenseless by surprise, the child fumbled desperately with his yoyos while Kuwabara continued to charge towards his opponent with his sword extended towards him.

But only moments before the redhead was ready to make contact, Rinku's weapons lashed out again towards him.

The impact of the two attacks sent each fighter flying out of the ring; both of them colliding with opposite walls. Koto quickly stepped up to the platform and glanced to either end of the arena before raising her hand in the air.

"One!...Two!...Three!...Four!..." she counted into the microphone, and as she did so, Rinku was seen making his way towards the ring once again. Kuwabara on the other hand remained motionless as the count continued.

"Five!...Oh! Rinku is back in the arena already; if Kuwabara is unable to make it back by the end of my ten-count we'll have our winner! Six!" she said continuing her count.

"Come on, dumbass…"

The Urameshi team froze to find Yusuke talking in his sleep. But despite this, he almost seemed completely aware of the battle going on.

Kazuma suddenly jumped up from his resting place after hearing Urameshi's voice and angrily stormed over towards the detective.

"What did you say to me, Urameshi?!" he ordered, "I don't see you fighting out there! You're just sitting here on your lazy ass—!"

"Kuwabara! The count!" Kurama warned him as his time began to wane.

The redhead froze for a second, confused before his eyes widened, "Oh shit!" he cried and swiftly turned towards the arena before it was too late.

But unfortunately, Rinku had no intentions of fighting Kuwabara again and swiftly sent his yoyos after the redhead; entwining around him making him unable to move any closer towards the arena.

"Wha?!" Kazuma muttered, "What the hell kind of dirty trick is this?! You little punk! Let me go so I can beat the crap out of you!"

Rinku shook his head wearily, obviously already worn out by the fight, "Not a chance!"

"Ten!" Koto cried and raised her hand above her head, "The winner of the first match…Rinku!"

The crowd erupted into cheers as the child withdrew his weapons from around Kuwabara and weakly gave a smile to those in the audience.

Kazuma however, was not as pleased.

"You little bastard!" he cried as he stumbled back onto the ring, "You're going down!"

Rinku looked nearly terrified from the redhead's anger and uncertainly backed away from him, "B-But the match is over!"

"Does it look like I care?" Kuwabara challenged while getting that weird, crazy look in his eyes. His opponent sweatdropped and quickly scampered away from the arena and back towards his team, "Hey!" Kazuma yelled after him, "Come back here!"

"Kuwabara, it's over," Kurama called to him from the sidelines where he was already beginning to check on Mai, "We'll make sure we defeat the rest of them…"

The redhead frowned angrily and unhappily made his way off the platform while mumbling several profanities towards his opponent just as Koto stepped up to the ring looking a little unhappy herself.

"I'm a little disappointed to say that no one died during this match—but let's hope that our luck turns around and we get to see some violence!!" She then addressed each of the teams, "Now, let's have that second match, shall we? Teams, send up your next fighters!!"

From the other side, the next member of the team Rokuyoukai began to make his way towards the ring. Team Urameshi paused for a moment before Kurama stood from his place next to Mai and turned to the others.

"I'll go this time," he said addressing them and started to turn back towards the arena when a shrill voice stopped him.

"Gods, it's barely the start of this damn tournament and already you guys are falling apart!!"

The Urameshi team turned to find Botan charging down the steps towards the sidelines. Kurama, Kuwabara, and even Hiei looked a little bit confused as she hopped down from the wall and strode quickly towards them.

"Botan? When the hell did you get here?" Kazuma wondered, "You're not even supposed to be down here unless you're a part of the team."

The blue-haired girl turned to him, "Me? Oh, I got here a little while ago with Keiko and Shizuru—!" (a/n ::nervous laugh:: yeah I sort of decided to put Keiko into the story…)

"Sh-Shizuru?" Kuwabara repeated, "Crap! My sister's here?!"

"And Keiko?" Kurama echoed nervously, _Gods it wasn't going to be a happy reunion with Yusuke and Yukimura… _

Botan nodded, "Yup!" she turned and pointed into the stands, "See? Both of them are just up there…Ha, though there was a little trouble getting in, but Koenma was able to get us in here in time to see you get beat up by a little kid," she said while sending a teasing glare in Kuwabara's direction, "But anyways…" she continued without losing her cheerfulness and returned her attention to the team, "I'm here as your new team manager!"

"…"

"Uh…okay?"

She grinned, "But first things first!" she stated and quickly made her way to where Yusuke remained sleeping and where Mai had—at one point or another—fallen over onto his shoulder. Before they could stop her, Botan suddenly gripped Urameshi by the collar and shook him violently causing the rest of the team to sweatdrop, "Come on Yusuke! You can't sleep at a time like this!!"

But the detective merely slumped over and a soft snoring could be heard coming from him. The blue-haired girl sighed in exasperation before releasing him.

"Yeah…We already tried that before we left the hotel room," Kuwabara said while scratching the back of his head uneasily. And despite Botan's disturbance, neither Yusuke nor Mai seemed ready to wake up quite yet.

"Team Urameshi!!" Koto suddenly barked from the top of the arena, "Are you gonna send in your next fighter or what?!"

Kurama nodded and turned to step onto the platform when Hiei suddenly appeared next to him.

"Don't leave the ring," he said darkly, "Until that bastard is dead."

The redhead agreed silently and lifted himself onto the ring to confront his opponent for the next match.

Koto looked rather exasperated, "Well finally you get your ass in gear!" she snapped but then went suddenly perky again, "And let the second match between Roto and Kurama…

"Begin!!"

Across from him, Kurama's opponent laughed with mirth as his arm suddenly became distorted. And as the redhead watched, Roto's arm then morphed into a blade.

The demon smirked, "You shouldn't have gotten close to anyone…"

And before Kurama could even form a quizzical glance, Roto suddenly charged after him with his blade outstretched towards the redhead. Quickly regaining his senses, he dodged the attack before his opponent could hit his mark.

The redhead whirled quickly after the fighter's attempt; his hand clenching into a fist and making ready to finish off the demon.

But Roto merely smirked and made no move to avoid his attack, "I have your mother, Suichi…" he suddenly said calmly.

Kurama froze abruptly and the demon then quickly swiped at him with his blade; cutting the redhead across the cheek.

Seeing that he had Kurama's attention, Roto withdrew from his jacket a small communicator-type object with a large red button placed on top. The demon's face lit up with triumph as he noticed the redhead shifting uncomfortably.

"The press of this button," he continued coolly, "Will give the signal to my brother…" he casually twirled the button in his hands, "You see, he's been ordered to keep a little eye on your mother…Suichi, isn't it? If you were to try to harm me in any way, shape, or form, I'm afraid I would have to press this little button here…" he smirked as the redhead became uneasy.

From the sidelines the Urameshi team looked at one another in confusion; why wasn't Kurama fighting? Why the hell were they just talking out there?

Roto chuckled darkly, "Though, if I had known you were going to bring your little girlfriend with you I would have saved my brother the trouble and had him come here…oh he would have enjoyed this match and watching you all squirm…especially if it gave him the chance to kill her in the process…"

The redhead clenched his teeth threateningly, "Leave her out of this…" he ordered menacingly in a tone that he rarely used.

"That still leaves you with the problem of your mother…" he taunted; playing with Kurama's patience and smirked, "So I guess if you want to keep her alive you might not want to fight me…"

Roto suddenly took his foot and shoved it into Shuichi's stomach. The redhead doubled over but said nothing as he allowed himself to take the abuse.

"It's weak to let yourself become close to anyone…" the demon snarled, "And even weaker to get close to a human—!"

He stopped suddenly as a small pebble flicked him in the chest. The demon blinked in confusion before letting out an amused laugh, "Pathetic," he spat and glared down at Kurama.

"Why isn't he fighting?" Botan wondered to Kuwabara.

The taller male shrugged, clearly as confused as her or more. But Hiei glanced towards the two before directing his crimson eyes towards the opposite side of the stadium where the Rokuyoukai team was waiting patiently.

"Hn…" he muttered, _Filthy cheating bastards…_

Roto laughed victoriously in the redhead's face and clenched his left fist; slamming it into the side of Kurama's head…but he didn't flinch. The demon blinked as if surprised by Suichi's boldness, but this soon turned to anger as he narrowed his eyes; striking Kurama once more.

"Do you think you're superior to me, then?" he muttered darkly, "That seems odd…since you're the one at my mercy!!"

He raised the blade in his hand and quickly swiped it across the redhead's cheek. Kurama gritted his teeth as a trickle of blood streamed down the side of his face while Roto watched him in his defeat. He struck the redhead along the shoulder, causing Suichi to collapse onto his knees.

The demon shoved his shoe into Kurama's face, "Lick it," he ordered, "Lick the scum off my boot…then I will save you from any more of this humiliation and take your head as my prize…how does that sound to you?"

Kurama glared at him with his emerald green eyes, "No," he answered darkly.

"No?" Roto echoed, "You are aware that if you don't I can easily kill your mother right now?!"

The redhead's gaze did not relent from its severity, "Go ahead then…press the button,"

His opponent smirked; his thumb already beginning to press down on the button, "My pleasure—!"

Suddenly he cut himself off as he stared down at his hand. His thumb was less than a centimeter away from completely pushing on the controller…but for some reason he couldn't find a way to press it down.

"Wh-What's this?!" he muttered through gritted teeth seeing that the rest of his body was frozen to paralysis.

But Kurama didn't answer him immediately; he stood swiftly and in the same motion swiped the button out of Roto's hand and clattering onto the arena floor. The redhead glared darkly at the demon; the tables of fate turning swiftly.

"…The seed of the Death Plant is now sewn within you…" he told him so only his opponent could hear him. Those in the stadiums whispered angrily to one another since there didn't appear to be any actual fighting going on.

But suddenly, as Kurama was talking, small sprouts of some form of plant erupted from Roto's flesh and wriggled in the air. The demon grew pale, but seeing as though he couldn't do anything about it, his fear increased dramatically.

Roto's eyes suddenly grew wide, "The…pebble…"

Suichi cocked his head and smiled cunningly, "Yes, the pebble. It was only to distract you from the seed implanting itself into your flesh…" his eyes narrowed darkly into an expression that was odd for him, "You're finished."

And with that, the redhead calmly began to walk back towards his companions on the sidelines while Roto called after him in desperation.

"Wait!! Please, I beg of you! Mercy! Don't you believe in mercy?!" his opponent cried in despair.

Kurama turned his head slightly, "No."

A sudden cry of terror enveloped the stadium as the Death Plant seed bloomed. Roto writhed in agony as the sprouts piercing his flesh burst forth in blossoms of multicolored flowers and as the thorns from within his body erupted in the veins within.

The crowd went silent as the demon collapsed onto the stadium…or at least all that was left of him seeing that his entire body had turned into a flower bush. However, from beneath, a pool of crimson blood fed the plant.

"Irony, really," he said to himself, "That such a beautiful plant would come of such a hideous creature…"

Without another word, the redhead stepped nimbly down from the ring and back with his companions. Koto blinked in confusion as if not quite sure if she had actually witnessed the end of the match.

"Er…well then…" she said into the microphone, "Since Roto is clearly unable to fight, Kurama is the winner!!...it would have been nice to see a little more violence, though," she grumbled as an afterthought.

An unhappy murmur swept through the audience—except for the lone cheers coming from nearly directly behind the Urameshi team. Botan turned quickly to find Keiko standing up in her seat and nearly screaming at the top of her lungs. The blue-haired girl quickly made a gesture for her to be quiet as dirty, angry glares were directed towards Keiko and Shizuru.

Koto picked up her microphone again, "Both teams are now tied and we're nearly halfway done!!" she addressed each team again, "Now, let's have the next fight begin, shall we?!"

-:-

a/n: alrighty then, this is my second chapter for this weekend so I doubt I won't have another one up till next Saturday (…stupid book report…) and let's hope that is actually working next weekend, shall we?

Ciao!!!


	11. Dragon of the Darkness Flame

DISCLAIMER: I don't own yyh. But I do own my OCs (Mai, Kira, Ryu…etc.) and the plot idea is also mine (except for all that's actually happened in the series, but my own ideas are mine)

a/n: ugh…kitkat isn't doing too well; colds aren't fun nuh uh…::sniff:: well anyway, despite this, I'm still gonna try and update this week! Yay!!

Thank you to my reviewers!

XxXRoseVixenXxX: yeah…I apologize for that (heck, now I'm just regretting ever putting up the vote-thing in Fire Dancer cuz now I think it would have been so much better then…) but I'm still going to be putting a bunch of fluffy moments in between Mai and Kurama, so don't worry!

Sarah1281: you thought that chapter was funny? Hm…well I kinda was trying to in the very beginning but…

Umeko Saito: You're really in Ireland??!! That's so cool! And I'm so glad that you've actually found the time to review! LoL, but I do have to confess that I too am a dubbie ::sniff:: but I am able to do some "research" for the true storyline. But to tell you the truth I have absolutely nothing against Keiko! It's just that I like to experiment with my characters and the ones from the show (I'm actually thinking of making a Hiei/OC fic where Keiko and Yusuke will be together : )

Naoko Asakura 009: haha, okay, okay…I'll try and make it so that those fights work out. But from now on, I don't think I'll be making many more suggestions to you guys (nothing personal, really!!) I just think it's easier and a bit more fun to write the fic when my readers don't know what's going to happen…if that makes sense…

…

So…um….on with the chapter!! YAY HIEI!!!!!!

_Thoughts/Flashback_

_Fire Angel_

::Dragon of the Darkness Flame::

"Let's have the next two fighters come on up!!" Koto cheered into the microphone as the audience began to grow impatient for some actual violence. And both Keiko and Shizuru sitting alone behind Team Urameshi began to shift uneasily.

However, with the spirit detective and his guardian both unconscious, the group was left only with Hiei and the masked fighter to finish out the fight. The duo leaned wearily against the wall; both of them leaning up against one another for support and nearly oblivious to the entire match.

From across the ring, Zeru calmly made his way towards the field…but a triumphant gleam already flashed in his eyes.

Hiei's eyes flickered quickly towards Yusuke where he still remained sleeping along with Mai; continuing to leave their companions crippled and at a near disadvantage against team Rokuyoukai. The apparition formed a small grin; more fun for him then…

And as Zeru stepped onto the ring, Hiei nimbly leapt onto the arena as well without saying a word to his companions, but it didn't appear as though they had any objection anyway.

"Alright then!!" the announcer chirped, "Let's hope that this fight will have a bit more violence in it than the other two fights!! BEGIN!!"

The two fighters stood silently for a moment; glaring one another down and testing each other's willpower. But both of them—with their enormous egos—would not back down from the other. Hiei looked almost amused with his opponent and folded his arms casually; it wasn't as if Zeru's specialty was a mystery…

Zeru smirked and his eyes narrowed. Out of the blue, flames suddenly erupted around him and shot off into all directions of the stadium. Audience members cried out in pain as they were swallowed by the inferno. Team Urameshi blinked in surprise and threw up their arms in protection of the scorching flames. But the shorter apparition didn't even flinch as the fires blew around him.

Flames began to consume Rokuyoukai's fighter and in his fists, fireballs licked at the palms of his hands. Zeru readied his stance so that he was prepared to fight his opponent, but Hiei merely smirked and didn't seem to make any move to prepare.

"This might have been a good fight for Mai…" Kuwabara said thoughtfully (a/n: …), "I mean, since they're both use fire-type attacks and all…"

The redhead beside him finished wrapping up a small wound he received during his fight, "I'm not quite sure about that… for one of two reasons: fire on fire would be a difficult match; neither of them would have had the advantage and would have had to resort to physical fighting," Kurama placed a hand in pocket, "Besides that, Zeru must be one of the strongest fighters on their team…don't get me wrong, I have total trust in Mai it's only that I don't think she's quite ready for a match like this."

Botan frowned from where she knelt next to Yusuke and the guardian, "Not ready? Hasn't she been training with Yusuke the past three months?" she raised her eyebrow curiously, "The way Genkai drilled him before you would think that they would both exceed the entire team…"

He shook his head, "It's not that I'm worried about…I'm just not sure if she's ready emotionally to take on a fight like this."

A desert-like wind whipped at Hiei's clothes and tousled his hair as the fires continued to envelope the stadium in a burning inferno. Zeru tossed one of the orbs of fire casually in his hand as if it were a baseball before his eyes swiftly flickered back to his opponent.

The fighter turned suddenly to face the apparition and hurled the fireball at him. Hiei dodged nimbly, but then had to jump away again when the demon threw another in his direction.

Zeru now hurled the fireballs continuously at the shorter fighter so that Hiei was constantly dodging his attacks. The streams of inferno charged through the air and whenever they missed Hiei, collided into another section of the crowd.

Koto excitedly held her microphone directly in front of her as if afraid to miss any action, "Now this is what I'm talking about!" she cheered, "At least one of these matches involves some actual fighting!"

Rokuyoukai's leader withdrew his attacks on his opponent and Hiei landed back on the ground a few feet away without the least bit of harm done to him.

A smirk curled around Zeru's lips, "You're not going to last for long, you know…" he said coolly.

Hiei raised his eyebrow mockingly, "Really…? I'm actually quite bored with your antics…so I guess it would be somewhat enlightening to see what you think you can kill me with."

His opponent hooded his eyes and growled, "Gladly," he muttered, and returning to a normal stance, the demonic aura around him began to grow. He clenched his fists and punched them together causing spurts of fire to crackle along his arms. His body pulsed with the strength of his energy and started to glow a deep red while flames erupted around him.

Team Urameshi looked on worriedly as Zeru's power rose dramatically. Hiei continued to stand calmly before his opponent, but his eyes showed something of a spark of interest now that the fighter was becoming stronger.

Zeru cried out suddenly as the flames roared around him; anger flashed before his eyes and his fists clenched angrily as his energy started to reach its peak.

Then, the demon whirled on Hiei and hurled his fist at him while it blazed with fire. The apparition didn't ever try to move as his opponent's attack made contact. His fist pierced flesh it seemed as it was thrown into Hiei's stomach. The flames from the attack exploded around him and enveloped him in flames.

The apparition was hurled into the air by the force and sent flying across the ring. Zeru however was not yet done with his opponent and punched the air in front of him causing a new fireball to arise; this one enlarging itself to thrice the size of its user. The fiery ball of inferno charged towards Hiei before he could even recover from the attack.

Flames roared around the apparition and exploded on impact. An unearthly silence filled the stadium as Hiei crashed into the ring…and did not move afterwards.

A pause filled the air for a moment afterwards as the crowd began to comprehend what had just happened. When their shock had subsided, however, their roars and cheers of excitement thundered around them. Team Urameshi stood in a stunned silence though as their teammate did not rise from his stilled state.

"He…he didn't even try to avoid the attack," Kuwabara said wondrously.

"It didn't really seem like it, did it?" Kurama continued softly.

Zeru folded his arms coolly as a triumphant gleam flashed across his eyes. He stood there for a moment watching Hiei's body continued to crackle beneath the flames of the fighter's attack. A smirk curled along his lips as he slowly began to walk away from his victim; obviously believing himself to be the victor.

He had nearly made his way off of the arena too…until a dark laugh stopped him in his tracks.

Team Urameshi drew in a sharp breath of surprise when they suddenly noticed the flames around Hiei shifting as the apparition began to stand. Zeru froze and there was a sudden wave of terror that swept across the ring from the demon. His body went rigged while he slowly turned back towards the other fighter.

Hiei rose slowly; taking in the fear surrounding Zeru. But as he stood, the entire crowd went silent when they noticed that the headband around his head had disappeared.

The Jagan above Hiei's two eyes opened slowly and gave off an eerie glow. Pure terror raced across his opponent's features when he had fully confronted him again…and the apparition was enjoying every minute of it.

"Don't tell me that was your best attack…" Hiei muttered, but not without a hint of amusement.

Zeru blinked and stepped backwards warily, "But…no one could have survived against the heat of my fires—!" he stammered as he watched the flames continue to wrap themselves around the apparition but without leaving a single mark.

Hiei smirked, "That probably would have been true had it not been for my Jagan protecting me…"

The third eye opened fully now; an unnatural, pale blue glow hovered around it. There was a brief flash of light and suddenly the flames around him were swept away as the Jagan Eye put up a protective orb around the apparition. The entire audience went silent as Hiei's energy drew in a sense of omniscient darkness into the stadium.

Slowly, as if taunting his opponent, he raised his right hand before him as a flaming black sphere appeared in his palm. Purple flames enveloped him and rose into the air and high above the stadium. The ground beneath them trembled violently as fear filled the arena.

Kurama's eyes grew wide suddenly and he stared at his teammate incredulously, "He's…he's going to call on the dragon…!"

Kuwabara sent him another one of his confused looks, "What dragon?"

"Dammit! He's not that stupid is he?!" Koenma muttered from above them in his sky-box view (and back in his child form). The sky above them now grew dark and a foreboding crimson hue.

Jorge (a/n: hell, I'm not sure if it should be George or Jorge, but I like this way better; it looks cool LoL) who had been standing behind the demigod's giant armchair peered down into the stadium curiously, "Something wrong, sir?"

"Doesn't it look like something's wrong?!" he barked and leaned in closer to the window to get a better view, "That attack is unstable!! If something goes wrong, that idiot could be destroyed!"

Even so, it appeared as though Hiei knew exactly what was going on despite the confusion of most of his teammates. Black lightning flashed across the skies above them and the ocean surrounding the island could even be heard groaning beneath the extravagance of the power the apparition was calling upon.

Hiei continued to hold the flaming sphere in his palm and sneered when he noticed the terror racing through Zeru at the moment…and even though his opponent didn't know exactly what the attack was, he knew that there was a great power behind it.

"There really a way to control this attack once I release it…" the shorter apparition said casually from behind the veil of violet flames, "But I guess my right arm will have to do, "…There has to be something to channel its power; it tends to have a mind of its own…" a devious smirk curled along his lips.

Thunder shook the entire arena and Koto backed away fearfully from the purple fire surrounding Hiei, "Uh…I think that's my cue to hightail it out of the way!!" she cried and quickly scurried off the ring and away from harm.

Hiei's eyes narrowed dangerously and his Jagan began to give off an even stronger light as he raised his hand towards Zeru, "This…this is the end for you…" he growled as the flames around him intensified and the ground around them shook with an even mightier force. The Urameshi team watched the apparition as the burning orb in his hand suddenly started to crawl along his arm; spiraling upwards towards him.

He took his left hand to steady the right and glared across the ring at Zeru.

"DRAGON OF THE DARKNESS FLAME!!"

A dark light erupted from within the ring and a foreboding crimson glow surrounded Hiei. Along his arm, however, a violet cyclone of energy roared and the force caused the earth around him to quake.

The cyclone suddenly lashed out with an impenetrable fury and hurled itself at Zeru…the face of the attack forming in the shape of a terrible dragon.

Hiei's opponent cried out in pure terror as his attack swarmed around him. Lightning flashed once more as the stadium went completely silent and the stilled quiet reached up even to Koenma in his seat.

The apparition appeared quite pleased with himself, except for the fact that when he glanced down at his hand, he realized that his entire arm was scorched and to the point of uselessness. His eyes flickered briefly towards the opposite wall where the only remains of Zeru were the scorch marks along the concrete.

Team Rokuyoukai gaped in awe and fear at their former leader while the Urameshi teammates did the same.

Koto poked her head from the sidelines and glanced up at the ring to find Hiei alone. Shakily, she stepped back into the arena, "Let me just say first off…that was the best match yet!!" she cried while becoming suddenly cheerful again and as the unhappy mutters of the audience filled the stadium, "And since Zeru is not only out of the ring, but clearly unable to fight on, I announce Hiei the winner!"

The apparition snorted and calmly headed back towards his team. And as he stepped down from the arena, Kuwabara blinked incredulously.

"That…was…AWESOME!!" he roared excitedly, "With that attack, you could defeat anyone—!" he paused for a moment; his expression failing him, "…But…that kinda means he can use it on us too…"

Hiei snorted again as he came to stand next to them, "I wouldn't worry over that too much, baka; but I assure you I will use it after the tournament."

The redhead paled suddenly, but puffed out his chest defiantly, "Yeah, well—we'll be ready then!!"

Across from them on the other side of the ring the remaining fighters on the Rokuyoukai team continued to stare at the scorched outline of their leader in horror as their faces dropped suddenly.

"Holy shit!" one of them cried out after a moment, "I'm not gonna sit here and get my ass beat like **that**!!"

The other nodded briskly and started to back away from the ring, "Hell yeah!" he turned his head to the child nearby while running off into the tunnel behind them, "Hey, you're on your own, Rinku!!"

The yoyo master blinked as if stunned before whirling back towards them, "Hey wait!! You can't just leave me here—!!"

There suddenly came a brief shout and cry of pain followed by the sound of bodies slumping to the floor. Another wave of silence lingered in the stadium afterwards as a lone figure was seen returning from the tunnel dragging two bodies with him.

It was a taller man wearing a fur-trimmed vest with a crimson sash and olive green trousers. In his hand he carried a bottle of liquor and his hair was styled in a type of mowhawk-mullet cut. There was a faint sense of a five o'clock shadow around the lower half of his cheeks and chin and he had a greenish blue strip across his nose.

As he entered the stadium, the heavy scent of alcohol drifted over the crowd. He let the two bodies of the former Rokuyoukai fighters drop to the ground as he turned sluggishly to address the announcer.

"Hey, sheila!" he called in his thick Australian accent (a/n: that's always seemed weird to me since…ah nevermind; if I continued I'd just be contradicting myself (I luv Jin!!) he let out a drunken hiccup, "Since both of me teammates are dead you don't suppose I could fill in for em do ya?"

Koto blinked, "Uh…I guess so…If you think you can finish off the round, I suppose."

The drunken man stumbled into the ring without another word and staggered to the center. He took a swig of the bottle in his hand and turned almost dumbly towards the announcer and blinked. It took him a moment before he skittered off to her side.

"Oi! You're a cute one aren't ya?" he said to her; his words slurred together by too much liquor. The fox-demon blinked uneasily, "…Erm…"

Shizuru flicked open her lighter and lit up another cigarette calmly as she watched the new fighter enter the ring. She frowned though when a sudden feeling prickled at the back of her neck.

"Mm… Something's different about this one" she said to herself "…he feels strangely more powerful than the others…"

Keiko glanced up at her curiously, "What was that Shizuru?" she asked.

She shrugged and returned her attention to the match while attempting to smile half-heartedly, "Nothing…I was just talking to myself."

"Eh?" the warrior glanced around the sidelines for the opposing team and found them one three-hundred-sixty degree turn later, "Oi! So which one of ya is gonna fight, Chu?" he demanded impatiently in third person and took another draught of the alcohol.

The Urameshi team glanced at one another uneasily; all of them had already fought…the only member left conscious was the masked fighter. The question however was whether or not they could trust them…hell; they didn't even know who they were!

"Maybe Kurama should go," Botan suggested, "He's less worn out than you two…"

The redhead frowned, "True, but something feels different about this fighter…"

Kuwabara nodded, "Yeah, I sensed something just a moment ago; something about him made me think that he was really strong; maybe even stronger than Zeru…Maybe we should have the fighter Yusuke brought in fight since they're all rested up and whatnot."

Hiei opened his mouth to protest to this when the ferry girl suddenly poked her head around them and towards the wall where Urameshi and Mai had been resting, "Er…did anyone else realize that we're missing two of our teammates?"

The other three turned to find the wall bare. Confused, they turned back towards the ring to find Yusuke already stretching and preparing himself for the fight. Mai had crawled to the base of the platform and was even starting to nod off again, but she was nonetheless awake once more.

Mai glanced up at the screen high above the crowds and grinned, "Would you look at that, Yusuke…we're actually winning!"

The detective turned and folded his arms while trying to conceal a snort of laughter, "And am I to assume the loss we have is from Kuwabara?"

She nodded and placed her hands behind her head, closing her eyes, "Yup."

Kuwabara flushed angrily, "Hey it's not like you were any help during the match anyway!!" he yelled defensively, "You and Mai were sleeping half the time!!"

The guardian blinked, "Were we?" a teasing shimmer lingered in her eyes, "I didn't realize that I had slept that long!" she grinned letting him know she was only kidding.

Botan placed her hands on her hips and frowned; eying the pair suspiciously, "How is it that of all times, _now_ you two decide to wake up?"

They both glanced at each other and simultaneously winked at the ferry girl, "It wouldn't be a fight without at least one of us fighting," Yusuke grinned and gave her the thumbs up cheerfully while Mai nodded in agreement.

From behind them, however, the crowd muttered restlessly and somewhere a chain of boos started up. And somewhere else, a chant started up protesting against the Urameshi team; making their anger known to the rest of the demons in the stadium. Yusuke frowned towards them and the guardian opened an eye and peered over the crowds as well. The detective smirked and swiftly showed all of them his middle finger before turning his attention to the ring.

Around them, it seemed as though the audience had found that their favorite chant was saying "Kill Yusuke" over and over again.

_That's getting annoying already_, Mai decided wearily, but froze suddenly when her senses suddenly jerked to attention. Her eyes shot open and she scanned the crowd hurriedly before her eyes fell on one of the passageways above the seats where a lone figure stood watching; their forest green cloak draped over their shoulders.

Her eyes narrowed, but she said nothing to her companions, even though she felt the familiar terror sweep through her as his cold, hard gaze fell on her. Let him watch, she told herself while trying to keep the courage to hold his gaze. After a moment she turned away and forced herself to focus on the match about to occur.

"This might be a tough fight for Yusuke," Kurama said softly.

Mai turned to him, "Why do you say that?" she inquired curiously, "The man's completely hung-over; he can't be that much of a threat, can he?"

The redhead frowned slightly, "Maybe…but Chu almost seems as though he's hiding his true power; there's something about him that makes me think that's he's much stronger than we believe him to be…and now that Hiei's arm is damaged our team is already crippled as it is; if he loses then we'll have a hard time trying to defeat him."

The guardian considered this for a moment; there was something odd about this one (besides the reoccurring question in her head as to why someone could and would get so drunk).

"Kuwabara might actually be right," he continued, "This fighter might be even stronger than Zeru—" Mai gave him a quizzical look, "Er, the one Hiei just fought with…Zeru claimed that he was the team leader, but Chu seems much stronger now than him even when he was powered up…Personally, I think Chu might be the true leader of team Rokuyoukai…"

Upon hearing his name, the drunken warrior glanced up at the Urameshi team and frowned; trying to look serious. But the strain on his face made it look almost comical.

"De only thing I suck at is Rock, Paper, Scissors!!" he grumbled at them. This 'explanation' caused the group to sweatdrop and look at one another. Koto looked around uncertainly, before her eyes lit up with understanding.

"Ah! Well what I think Chu is trying to say is that the Rokuyoukai team decided their fighting order by the method of Rock, Paper Scissors…and since Chu lost, he became their substitute for the match!"

Yusuke raised an eyebrow, "Yeah, well I guess that makes _a little _bit of sense…I guess…"

His guardian stood now and leaned up against the platform, "Hey Yusuke," she called to him and he turned to face her, "Just don't lose," she grinned and gave him the thumbs-up and he did the same.

Koto stepped up to the center of the ring and raised her hand above her head, "Let the next match of the dark tournament—between team Urameshi and team Rokuyoukai begin!!"

-:-

a/n: wow that was getting too long and I need to go to bed. I hope this satisfies you all for now cuz right now school has been pretty stressful (stupid damn balancing equations that we don't even have to do for another two years or whatever, grrr) (I hate chemistry)

Anyways, I probably won't be asking for you guys' opinions anymore (NOTHING PERSONAL I SWEAR!!!) it's just that I think it would be better if I just kept my ideas to myself so I'm not ruining the story for you all.

Ciao ya'll!!!


	12. The Stumbling Warrior

DISCLAIMEr: I do not own any yyh stuff (though I wish I had a Yusuke plushie, hehe) but my OCs (Mai, Ryu, Kira) and my original plot ideas/additions are mine as well.

a/n: ::hack hack:: damn cold/ cough it's getting so annoying now grrr…

Well anyway…since it's Sunday and I have to go to my youth group thingy at church later, I might as well get started on this chapter for this week (LoL, if I work fast enough I might even get half of it done (but I'm going to try and combine both episodes between Yusuke and Chu, which might make it a little difficult ::nervous laugh:: )

Thankies to my reviewers!

Umeko Saito: Yay! So you're updating soon? …but I seriously didn't mean anything personal by that; what I meant was that I wasn't going to really tell you guys any hints about what will happen (for example when I asked you guys about the fights, it kinda just ruined the surprise…) but please feel free to tell me your ideas!! I'm sorry if I offended you; I just don't think I'm going to be sharing stuff like that so I don't ruin the plot (cuz it's gonna get pretty interesting as I go on)

XxXRoseVixenXxX: Oh! I luv you guys' opinions!! It's just like I told Umeko; I don't think I'm going to ask you guys about stuff like fights and who will be paired up with who and stuff like that

BloodOrchid666: Yup! Yusuke and Mai finally woke up! Haha, but thanks for your review; I'm really glad you enjoy this story!

Fire-Princess11375

Sarah1281: haha, well I already got Adrienne sick, so you might be next!! (dun dun dunnn!! LoL!)

Oh! And guess what I did this weekend?! I drew another picture of Mai!! It turned out pretty well if I do say so myself! Right now I'm touching it up on the computer (except it's on WordPaint (blegh!)

_Thoughts/Flashback_

_Fire Angel_

::The Stumbling Warrior::

The stadium shook with the excitement of the crowd as their thunderous roars and cheers filled the air. At last it seemed as though this Chu character could finally defeat the one person in the tournament they hated most. With the ground shaking so much, Mai even had to plant Kira's staff into the ground to prevent her from falling over.

She glanced up at Yusuke who was watching his opponent with interest. The Guardian observed him awhile longer; the anticipation in his eyes glowing brilliantly. It had been so long since he had actually fought that it was as if his birthday had come early this year. She couldn't help but smile a little bit at the exhilaration he was experiencing despite how nervous she felt.

Chu was stronger than he was letting them know, she could tell. There was just something about him that kept her on her guard…and worried about the detective. But they had been training together for the past three months; she knew how much stronger he had become and that her anxiety was pointless.

The Guardian felt Kurama step beside her and she relaxed a little bit. He leaned his head towards her and murmured, "You're nervous again, koi…"

Mai bit her lip as she nodded slowly and turned to meet his gaze; those emerald orbs that seemed to enrapture her just by looking at them, "He might be stronger than he was three months ago…but he's still just as reckless," she reasoned quietly with a hollow laugh, "It makes me feel as though I'm overreacting or at least being a bit overprotective…"

He smiled gently, but said nothing…although he quietly wrapped her hand into his to steady her nervous trembling.

Koenma leaned forward in his chair to get a better look at the battle field below. He watched the detective curiously as a sudden thought crossed his mind...Yusuke had advanced so much in his training…was it possible that Genkai had finally taught him the Spirit Wave technique?

He peered a bit closer at the teen in the arena; it was impossible to tell…only Genkai and Mai knew exactly what happened in his training over the past three months…

Chu staggered dangerously and clutched the bottle in his hands before taking a deep swig of the nauseous liquor. He drank it dry and when there was nothing left of it, he let it crash to the arena floor where it shattered into tiny glass pieces.

He stood a moment, swaying, before the area around his body began to steam with noxious purple and blue fumes that smelled deeply of the alcohol he had consumed. The warrior's eyes narrowed dangerously (although it also could have been from the hangover he was experiencing).

The fighter stumbled to the right and steadily began to stagger faster and faster around the detective. Yusuke watched as Chu began to whiz in and out of view and appear in several places around him. The speed he was going at seemed unnatural for someone so drunk and even Kuwabara was having trouble keeping up with his movements.

Urameshi grinned, _This is interesting…_he mused with himself as he continued to follow the warrior's path around him.

His senses pricked suddenly though, when he caught sight of an irregular movement out of the corner of his eyes. He narrowed his eyes and swiftly turned to meet the attack while throwing his arms in front of his face.

Chu's fist collided with his block and the warrior frowned. But before Yusuke could take his turned at a punch, his opponent clenched his left fist and attempted a hook into the detective's chest.

Urameshi moved his block lower to avoid the attack, but the force behind it sent him flying backwards. As he was thrown into the air, he realized with a sudden jolt that Chu was no longer on the ground. And suddenly, he felt a sharp pain in the back of his neck where the warriors elbow began to dig into his back.

Now his body hurtled towards the arena floor where it made contact with a sickening thud. The warrior landed on the ground once more easily and crossed his arms calmly; rather pleased with his attack.

But then Yusuke leapt back to his feet and pivoted towards Chu as he charged back at his opponent. He rapidly swung punches towards the warrior, but he easily dodged each of his attacks; even closing his eyes with boredom.

The detective clenched his teeth angrily and sped up his attacks in his fury.

Chu smirked amusingly and did a double-take with his fists as he swiftly returned and hit Urameshi on either side of the head with his hands. He raised his fists again, but Yusuke put up another block to deflect the attack.

The fight now turned into a fist-brawl as the two opponents began to wail on one another with a continuous rain of fists. Chu's attacks however had more luck hitting their mark than the detective's and Yusuke was getting rather bruised pretty quickly. Fury now flared in his eyes and his attacks flew more swiftly than before.

Chu however had lessened his guard a bit more than he should have and as Urameshi powered up a final punch, his attack smashed into the warrior's face. He stumbled backwards in surprise and blinked. His eyes flashed back towards Yusuke with the slight hint of annoyance.

Without warning, the warrior's knee lashed out and caught the detective in the stomach. Yusuke let out a cry of both surprise and pain as the power behind the attack hurled him across the stage towards the opposite side of the stadium. His body collided with the wall causing the rubble around him to topple around him.

Mai cried out in alarm and watched dumbfounded as the pile of concrete did not stir. Tears of worry filled her eyes as she turned back to see Koto step onto the ring to begin the count. And without really knowing what she was doing, she started to run towards where Yusuke had fallen. But before she had taken more than a few steps, she felt someone grab her arms and hold her back.

She struggled to release herself as Kuwabara and Kurama tried to stop her.

"If you help him, he might be disqualified from the match!" Kazuma protested, but winced and cried out painfully as the guardian stomped her foot on his.

"Kuwabara's right, Mai!" came Kurama's voice from beside her, "If you help him, the committee will have an excuse to disqualify us from the tournament."

The guardian gritted her teeth and blinked away her tears, but said nothing. After a moment, she let her arms fall to her side after the two boys had released her. Her hands clenched into angry fists as she continued to watch the pile of rubble.

"Five!" Koto shouted, "…Six!"

Mai's fingernails dug into her palm as she turned her angry eyes towards where Urameshi had fallen. Kuwabara glanced back towards the stage worriedly at Chu, "He must be over five times stronger than Rinku—"

He was cut off suddenly when the guardian beside him shouted furiously at the pile of concrete, "Dammit Yusuke!! You're such an ass!!" her knuckles turned white with rage and her body shook, "Get back into the ring, dammit!"

"Eight!...Nine—!"

Koto froze in her count when there came a flash from the mound of rubble and the rocks shifted. A figure zipped through the air and Yusuke reappeared on the ring.

The Guardian blinked, "Eh?…do you think he heard that?"

Kurama smiled with a hint of laughter playing at the corner of his lips, "Knowing him: probably; he might have been afraid that if he didn't finish out this fight you'd be sure to make him wish he did."

Mai glanced up at the redhead and laughed; her fear and anger erasing themselves from herself completely.

From the ring, Yusuke rolled his shoulder and swung his arms as if warming up to the fight, "Good thing I blocked that attack," he said calmly, "Or I might have been dead by now…In fact," he mused, "I think I'm beginning to like this life or death situation—"

"You better like it, Urameshi!!" Mai yelled from the sidelines, "Because when this fight is over I'm gonna kill you for making me worry over you like that!!"

The spirit detective sweatdropped and turned to her while laughing nervously, "Eh…? Heh heh, yeah, well sorry about that, Mai…" and returning to his cool nature, he grinned, "Besides, I've got this under control."

_Sure you do_, she snapped back mentally, but she could tell he was trying to ignore her.

Chu crossed his arms as the detective was talking, but when Yusuke returned his attention back to the fight, he readied his stance for the next wave of attacks. Urameshi smirked however and raised his hand towards the warrior; his index finger extended like a gunpoint. A small blue orb resonated from his fingertip as he aimed for Chu.

But before he fired his attack though, he shifted his arm to the right of his opponent and the attack shot harmlessly away from Chu and into the stadium where it destroyed a section of the outcropping above the seats. His opponent watched the detective curiously as Yusuke blew at the top of his finger.

From the sidelines, Kuwabara blinked in confusion, "Why the hell would he waste that shot?!" he stammered in disbelief, "Is he stupid or something?"

Mai folded her arms calmly without taking her eyes off the fight, "No."

Kazuma waited for her to continue, but she said nothing, "No what?" he demanded, "He only has one shot!! Why would he purposely miss like that?!"

"He's gotten stronger, baka," Hiei said simply cutting into the conversation.

But still the redhead looked lost and the guardian sighed irritably, "Yusuke is able to fire more than one spirit gun since we came back from training…four I believe is the precise number…"

Botan now stepped beside the guardian, "Really?" she asked curiously, "Wow, if he's that strong now, then what did you learn in your training, Mai?"

The girl seemed to pale slightly and ever so quickly, her eyes flickered towards the masked fighter and back; laughing nervously, "Ah, nothing special really…" she mumbled and turned away so they couldn't ask her anymore about it.

Urameshi smirked, "Hn…that was just a little sample, Chu; I have a lot more where that came from and it will only take one to bring you down."

The warrior looked excited, "Well then that must mean that dis fight will get interestin…" he drawled with the aftermath of the alcohol taking its affect. He readied his stance once more, but froze suddenly when it appeared as though his complexion was turning a sickly green.

Swiftly, he clapped his hands over his mouth while it seemed that the warrior was going to be sick. Yusuke took a wary step backward and raised his eyebrow as if unsure what to do.

After a moment, though, Chu was upright again and grinning from ear to ear, "Oi! Well that was a close one!"

Urameshi watched his opponent dumbly and at his sudden mood swing. The warrior then pulled out a flask from his belt and held it up to show the other fighter.

"Well since ya shown me your attack, I guess it's only fair for me to show ya mine…" he uncorked the bottle, "Ogre Killer…the strongest alcohol made and since I'm the master of drunken fighting, ya could say that dis is my secret weapon."

He took the flask in his hand and put it to his mouth; draining it dry. He dropped it and it fell to the ground with a dull, hollow clatter. Yusuke's expression darkened as the demonic aura around his opponent began to thicken and his energy began to skyrocket.

The warrior let the liquor take affect as the muscles along his body began to bulge and grow enormously passed there normal size. It appeared as though the transformation was nearly complete when Chu clapped his hands over his mouth once more and darted towards the edge of the ring where soon thereafter the nauseated sounds of his sickness could be heard.

"Damn hangover…" he muttered as he continued to hang over the edge. His only remaining teammate, Rinku stood with his hands behind his head, laughing.

"Chu's becoming invincible…" he told the detective on the ring, "That Ogre Killer stuff brought out his true power."

The warrior coughed then and stood; the symptoms of his drunkenness hardly visible; as if he had suddenly become sober. The fighter now watched Urameshi seriously and held up his two hands. Between them, energy began to crackle and violet electricity etched itself along the rim of an invisible orb. The energy grew and became a fiery orange tint until it was flaming and crackling in Chu's hands.

Kurama frowned, "That energy orb has the equivalence of Yusuke's spirit gun…" he stated seriously.

The guardian bit her lip; she was now beginning to think she jinxed him by telling him not to lose earlier. But as Kurama had been speaking, the two fighters suddenly began to run parallel to one another across the ring. Chu carried in his hand the ball of spirit energy and Yusuke held his hand at his side ready to fire another spirit gun attack.

They both made eye contact and skidded to a halt. The warrior drew his arm back as if pitching a baseball and suddenly hurled the ball of energy towards Urameshi. Yusuke leapt backwards and aimed his finger towards Chu and fired his spirit gun attack.

The two energies collided with one another causing an eruption of lighting and dust. The Urameshi team threw up their hands to shield their eyes from the light. But even before the explosion had settled, the two fighters charged at one another and repeatedly threw punches at each other without even bothering to block the other's punch.

Chu hooked the detective in the gut and sent him flying once more across the arena. This time, his hands formed another spirit orb…only now it was so big that he raised his hands above his head. The orb grew to nearly twice his size as he launched the attack back at his opponent.

Yusuke regained his senses just in time to aim his finger once more. And as the warriors attack drew closer to him, the blue orb at his fingertip grew.

"DOUBLE SPIRIT GUN!!!" he roared and as his attack charged towards his opponent's, it was indeed twice its normal size to match the power of Chu's spirit orb.

The attack pierced the fiery sphere, and straight towards the warrior. However, Chu's attack still hurtled itself towards the detective. Both attacks now charged for the opposite fighters and made contact.

An explosion on either end of the ring announced that both attacks had hit their mark. There was silence in the crowds as they waited for the dust to clear. Mai and the others watched worriedly and impatiently for the rubble to reveal the outcome.

As the smoke cleared, both fighters were seen—bruised and tired along the arena floor; either of them staggering to their feet. Their shoulders sagged and they glared at one another dangerously.

"Oi…" Chu panted, "That…attack of yours…heh, you used up all of your ammo…"

Yusuke smirked, "Yeah…well you…you did too, didn't you?"

There was a pause between them before the pair began to laugh…just laugh. They were both so weak that they were laughing at themselves. Koto blinked and stared at the two incredulously.

The warrior straightened slowly, "Ya still gonna fight, then?"

Urameshi rolled his neck as he too straightened, "Of course."

Koto looked between the two, "You two do realize that without any spirit energy you're hardly even fit to fight at all, right?"

Chu nodded, "Yeah…But I have a suggestion…" and from his vest he withdrew two daggers and held them out for the detective to see, "The Knife Edge Death-Match…" he said calmly.

Kuwabara frowned from outside the ring, "What the hell is that?"

But no one had an answer; even from above them, Koenma was a bit unsure as to what Chu was proposing.

"Sir? What's the Knife Edge Death-Match?" Jorge inquired curiously.

The toddler frowned and crossed his legs in frustration, "How the hell am I suppose to know that, Ogre?"

Keiko frowned and glanced up at Shizuru who puffed casually at her cigarette and kept her eyes on the ring; intrigued by the fight, "What's he talking about?"

Her brow furrowed and she shrugged, "I dunno, kid…hell," she added with a faint grin, "I'm not even sure why I'm here in the first place or what's going on…" But then her expression became stern and she crossed her arms, "But judging by the fact that both fighters are nearly defenseless…they'll probably fight to the death.

Shizuru noticed the brunette pale out of the corner of her eye and bite her lip.

Back on the arena, Chu took both knives and drove one into the ground. He stood and jabbed the second into the ring a few feet away. Yusuke watched the warrior with interest as the crowds around them eyed them in confusion.

Chu bent over and slid off his boots, "Take off your shoes, Urameshi," he told the detective and the teen obligingly did as he was told. As the warrior stood, he walked over towards the first dagger and placed his heel on the blade. Yusuke followed his lead and did the same with the second knife.

The two fighters stood ready and Mai watched from the sidelines incredulously; she had never seen someone fight this way before. But as each of them stood there, the guardian suddenly came to realize how much Chu outranked Yusuke in height.

"The only rule is that you can't step outside of the line," Chu stated and gestured towards the imaginary lines running through the blades, "If ya do, than that automatically makes this match sudden-death…Oi, and no weapons either; just brute strength for this math, eh?"

Koto held the microphone nervously in her hands, "Uh…well the committee has to decide whether this type of fight is acceptable," she stammered and turned towards the giant screen above the crowd as if addressing the committee watching.

Rinku smirked, "I wish they'll let the match go on…" he pondered, "Cuz Chu is the master when it comes to Knife Edge Death-Matches."

There was an anticipated whisper throughout the audience as all eyes went to the giant screen above them. Except for Chu and Urameshi; their eyes remained on each other, neither blinking nor turning away.

The announcer lifted the microphone once more, "Committee, what's your decision?"

An uneasy stillness filled the air, and then a pause. The monitor was cleared briefly before a giant white 'X' signaled the committee's denial of the request. Angry boos filled the air and the stadium once more shook with the roars of the crowd.

Above the audience, a man dressed in black stood beside one adorn in a forest green coat. On the taller man's shoulder perched a pale, ghost-like figure who eyed the match with interest.

"What do you want me to do about this?" Toguro questioned calmly as he watched the crowds beginning to riot in their fury.

A grin formed along Sakyo's lips and he slowly placed his hands in his pockets, "Have any more of our men arrived?" he inquired.

The demon folded his arms, "Not yet, sir…"

Not losing his calm-like state, the gambler beside him then turned towards the door, "Hm, very well…I'll do it myself then…"

Kuwabara glowered angrily, "Well that's bull!" he expressed to his companions as he glanced around at the crowds who continued to throw curses and profanities up at the hidden committee watching from above. Some of the demons even resorted to throwing their garbage and waste up at the box seats as their dark chants grew louder and more thunderous.

The guardian watched them as well and then returned her attention to the two fighters on the ring. Neither one of them had made a single move even when the committee had denied their request; they didn't stir from their posts. Her eyes lingered on Yusuke…she could nearly feel the excitement pulsing through him at the moment.

It had been so long since he had fought someone; it almost made her happy to see him so ready to battle on.

_What is it about you, Urameshi…?_ She wondered automatically.

Her thoughts were interrupted suddenly, when the 'X' on the screen vanished. The crowd's uproars died down slightly in confusion and all eyes went back to the monitor. Above them, the skies began to swirl with storm clouds. A strong wind picked up and howled over the stadium.

Leaves from the trees surrounded the building fluttered down from above them and skittered across the concrete arena. Both fighters remained motionless still.

Suddenly, there was a flash of lightning and somewhere in the distance there was the deep-throated rumble of thunder somewhere off. And as the light flashed, the screen changed so that now a large 'O' replaced the 'X' that had been there just moments before.

Without even glancing at the screen, both Yusuke and Chu immediately went at it. Neither of them bothered to block the other's attack and instead put all of their strength into each punch their threw at their enemy.

Kurama heard Mai sigh next to him, "They're both putting everything they have into this fight…" she said softly. The redhead glanced down at her to find her eyes unblinking and attached directly to the fight. Her azure orbs were blank and her feelings were unreadable from her expression.

-:-

One of the demon guards glanced up and caught sight of a lone figure traveling down the hallway. He gestured to his comrade and they both stood fingering the clubs in their hands.

"Hey!" the first guard hollered as the demon approached them calmly. They wore a completely black outfit with a red, jagged collar. There was an iron mask that wrapped itself around his face and he froze…watching them with his cold, yellow eyes.

"No one is allowed down here without a pass!" the second stated matter-of-factly.

The demon said nothing and cocked an eyebrow at the pair as he fingered something in his pocket.

"Yeah!" the first guard cut in again, "So why don't you just head back the way you came?" he ordered.

Once again, the stranger said nothing. But from the folds of his cloak he withdrew a small round object and held it calmly in his hands. The two guards eyed the demon warily as he held the sphere between two fingers.

Without warning, the demon leapt into the air above the two guards and hurled the object at them. A moment later he landed behind them and an explosion erupted where the security had once stood. Flames licked the walls of the hallway as the stranger continued calmly down the hallway.

Just awhile later, the demon easily opened one of the elegant oak doors and stepped inside without hesitation. He stood in the doorway and watched the taller man standing near the giant window that took up the entire section of the wall.

Toguro turned his head slightly before he returned it to a position where he could watch the fight, "You're early, Karasu…"

The demon said nothing as he approached his teammate. He peered down to the fight below where Yusuke and Chu continued to pummel one another merely with their fists.

"I wanted to see what all the fuss was about this Urameshi character…" Karasu replied casually.

The younger of the Toguros grinned slightly, "And what do you think of him?" he inquired.

Karasu didn't give him an answer, but his eyes never left the match.

Chu threw the detective an uppercut to the chest. Yusuke winced and was forced backwards. The flesh of his heel pierced through the blade and his crimson blood flowed over the silver dagger. He grimaced and returned the attack by sending a shower of punches into the warrior's chest.

His opponent's eyes went wide with surprise and he coughed; stumbling backwards as well. Blood now poured from Chu's heel and over the ground between him and Yusuke. Despite this, there was a hint of enjoyment coming from both fighters. Around them, the crowds continued to cheer for the drunken warrior.

"It's like nothing else exists to them," Mai said quietly, but a faint smile began to form at the corner of her lips, "But they do seem to be enjoying themselves, don't they?"

Kuwabara watched the fight, awe-filled, "Man, I wish I had had the chance to fight out there with him…I could watch this fight for hours…"

In the stands above them, Keiko felt tears beginning to form in her eyes as she continued to watch Yusuke fighting with Chu. He wasn't even trying to deflect his attacks and was getting beat up in the process. It was as if it wouldn't end! Neither of them looked as though they would ever give up…

Shizuru took the cigarette out of her mouth for a moment and let a puff of smoke drift into the air, "They don't seem to know when to stop, do they? If this keeps up for much longer, Urameshi might even die—"

That was all that Keiko needed to snap. The brunette stood swiftly and blindly raced up the staircase and through one of the tunnel archways. Shizuru blinked but then quickly dropped the cigarette and raced after her.

"Keiko, wait! Dammit, I wasn't being serious!" She cried after her and raced through the tunnel the girl had fled through. Shizuru glanced down the two hallways she was given and taking a chance, darted down the one on her left.

She charged down the corridor and took a swift turn around a second corner and suddenly came to a halt when she caught sight of the hoard of demons blocking her way. The group turned their eyes on her as smirks curled along their crooked jaws. She frowned darkly and swiftly threw a punch into the nearest demon's face and darted around him and back down the tunnel.

Behind her, Shizuru could hear them charging after her and she turned her head to confirm her suspicions. The corridor before her seemed to continue on for—

A hand suddenly gripped her by the wrist and wrenched her down a new hallway. The girl was about ready to sucker-punch this new foe, when they covered her mouth…just as the pursuing demons trampled down the corridor she had just been in. After they had passed, Shizuru whirled on her captor, but froze when she realized it was just another human like herself.

He was taller than her with midnight black hair that fell just passed his shoulders. He was adorn in an astute-looking business suit. There was a faint scar along his right cheek just below his eye. The man smiled kindly.

"You should be more careful down here…" was all he said just before he began walking calmly into the darkness beyond the corridor. Shizuru watched after him curiously for a moment before she too headed back down the hallway to find a way back to Keiko.

-:-

Mai winced with each attack that Yusuke suffered. A pool of blood swirled around the pair and their feet from the gashes in their heels. Both fighters were weakening with each attack, but they nonetheless looked as though they were having the times of their lives fighting one another.

Her ears pricked suddenly when she heard someone coming down the tunnel behind them. She turned just in time to see Keiko running onto the field towards them. She blinked; _when did she get here?_ (a/n: remember, she was asleep when Botan told them that Shizuru and Keiko had come along).

The guardian saw tears in the girl's eyes as she charged towards the team and threw her arms immediately around Kuwabara's waist. The redhead blinked in surprise and glanced down at the brunette.

"K-Keiko—?" he stammered.

"Kazuma you have to make Yusuke stop fighting!!" she sobbed into his shirt. Kuwabara's expression softened and became serious; he sighed and turned to the rest of his teammates for some sort of backup.

"I can't do that…" he said while trying to remain understanding, "Everything depends on Urameshi's ability to fight…We, we met this demon a few months back and he challenged us to a fight; and I think it sort of snapped something in the back of his head," Kazuma continued, "For once he found someone that was actually a challenge to defeat and even when we though we had killed him, he had faked it for some damn payoff…"

Mai hesitantly stepped beside the redhead, "We have to fight Chu and the other demons advancing in the tournament to fight Toguro again…" she cut in softly as the unpleasant memories swept through her mind. Keiko looked up at her with her deep brown eyes, "We have to fight Toguro again, Keiko…we—Yusuke _wants_ to…" her azure orbs flickered towards the ring where the two fighters continued in their battle, "He's…he's happy fighting out there…"

The brunette shook her head stubbornly, "Why does he want to get hurt…? It doesn't make any sense…"

The guardian's eyes softened and she forced a weak smile, "Keiko…I want just as much as you to stop this whole ordeal; I almost had him disqualified earlier by trying to help him…but…" she paused and looked away down at the ground, "I realize how much this means to him…I don't want to ruin that…"

Keiko watched the girl in front of her. She sniffed rather loudly and she too turned her eyes towards the ring where she watched Yusuke as well. Her eyes filled once more with a faint trace of sadness when she noticed what Mai had been telling her about, "He…he does look happy…doesn't he?" her eyes grew wide suddenly, "Oh—! I almost forgot about Shizuru!!" she cried out worriedly and turned quickly on her heel back towards the tunnel.

Hiei crossed his arms calmly; his eyes narrowing as he watched the girl leave, "He's probably so happy because it's almost over…"

And even as the apparition was speaking, Chu shifted his stance to prepare his final attack. The warrior lunged at the detective with his skull. Yusuke charged at him with a head-butt of his own and the two fighters clashed together with the sickening crash of both of their skulls smashing against one another.

An awe-filled silence filled the stadium as both Urameshi and Chu remained locked in the frozen pose with both their heads still connected to one another. Even the chanting crowds died down to watch.

As the stunned silence filled the arena, Yusuke watched uncertainly when Chu's eyes rolled to the back of his head. Slowly, the warrior toppled over and crashed into the concrete below causing the ring beneath him to quake and a crater around his head to form.

Urameshi stood for a moment before he removed his foot from the blade, wincing. He drew in a deep breath of the stormy air and sighed, letting his shoulders sag with exhaustion.

Koto quickly skittered to the center of the ring and began the count, but Yusuke already knew that Chu wouldn't get up after that…hell he was lucky himself to still be standing. Even so, there was still the think layer of tension filling the air as if the crowd expected the warrior to jump up any moment.

"Seven!...Eight!!...Nine!!...TEN!!" she shouted into the microphone and then stepped next to Yusuke, raising his hand with hers, "And the winners of the first match…Team Urameshi!!!"

The moment the fox demon shouted this into the mike, there was an angry murmur sweeping through the crowd. Despite this however, Rinku hopped nimbly onto the ring and raced to Chu's side where the earth had cracked beneath his head.

"B-But…how could someone so small possibly defeat him…?" the child whispered in disbelief just as the warrior beside him began to stir. Chu slowly lifted his head from the ground and steadily raised his eyes towards the detective. He frowned though, and his eyes narrowed.

"Kill me now, Urameshi…" he muttered.

Yusuke raised an eyebrow in his direction before shaking his head, "Nah…" a grin played at the corners of his lips, "It wouldn't be much fun if we couldn't fight again—!"

"You suck, Rokuyoukai!!" demons suddenly roared from the stands.

"What the hell are you doing here anyway?!"

"Who loses to a bunch of filthy human bastards?!!"

Rinku jumped to his feet angrily and shook his fist at the demons, "Hey!! If you wanna cause trouble, why don't you come down and do it yourselves—?"

"All of you shut up!!" Urameshi roared angrily at the crowds, "Either you say your insults to my face—or to my fist!! Those of you who feel bold enough to try me, I dare you to keep talking!!"

Suddenly, the stadium went completely silent. The detective waited only a moment longer before he was satisfied and calmly headed off the stage. Rinku and Chu watched him leave…suddenly gaining a new respect for the team leader.

Urameshi hadn't even stepped down entirely off the ring before Mai suddenly swung her staff around, hitting him along the side of the head. Yusuke fell sprawling along the ground twitching and let out a type of strained groan.

"What the hell is with you for making me worry over you like that?!" the guardian demanded, "You're lucky you won, Yusuke or I'd give you a fight of my own!!"

When the detective recovered from his spasm, he rolled over onto his back and sat up cross-legged with a goofy grin etched along his face. He scratched the back of his neck, "Heh, heh…but I _did _win, didn't I?" he told her sheepishly only to receive a smart smack to the head, "Ow, dammit!! Okay, okay! Gods, I'm sorry!!" (And if anyone had been paying attention, one would have heard a quiet laugh coming from the folds of the sixth fighter's mask).

He rubbed his head gingerly and glanced up into the crowds briefly, but tensed, when he caught sight of a group of lone figures standing beneath the entryway of one of the tunnels. Mai followed his gaze and felt a shiver race down her spine. The rest of the team turned to find both Toguros and an accomplice watching them from the stands above.

Both Yusuke and Toguro made eye contact and the two glared dangerously at one another. Mai suddenly realized the swift change from his goofy antics to such seriousness when the demon had been detected.

The trio at the top of the stairs eyed the team darkly—

Until Yusuke flipped them off.

Toguro smirked, "Do you think he's worth fighting, Karasu?" he asked the man beside him.

The demon hooded his eyes and folded his arms. His eyes flickered from the detective to the girl at his side, "Only if he keeps winning, Toguro…"

-:-

a/n: alrighty then!! I think I'm just gonna end this chapter here (since it's already fifteen pages on this Word document) but I hope you guys enjoyed!!

Stay tuned for much fluffiness in the next chapter (LoL, or at least a little bit of it : ) But it might be a little shorter since I wanna get back to the fighting (ha, and so that I can finish the Dark Tournament Saga so I can start on Chapter Black)

Hasta Luego everyone!!


	13. A Day in Waiting

DISCLAIMER: I don't own any yyh stuff, but I do own my original characters and the plot to the extent of all the occurrences that I made up.

a/n: ugh…so bored…:hackhack: and I still have my stupid cold (I swear people are starting to wear masks or something to avoid me…and that my teacher hates me…hm…)

Well since I'm waiting to go with my mom for some final xmas shopping, I guess I'll get a head start on this chapter

XxXRoseVixenXxX: haha, well I'm glad you enjoyed (I get hyper like that too sometimes—ah, make that all the time, hehe)

punk101dess: thank you for that criticism, I'm glad there's someone out there who can give helpful criticism instead of flames (kitkat no likey flames, nuh uh…)

NOTE: okay, for this chapter, since there really isn't much history to Seikoki (or however you spell it)—and unless someone gives me an accurate description of it other than the one I already have, I'm going to have to make up my own and how one trains for it…

So please don't get mad at me :nervous laugh:

_Thoughts/Flashback_

_Fire Angel_

:A Day in Waiting:

Sunlight hadn't even risen yet and the dew still shimmered along the grass. Along the shores of the island, the waves crashed lazily into the beach only to recede back into the ocean with a soft whisper. A crisp, morning breeze swept between the trees and shook the sleeping leaves in their boughs.

Not half a mile in from the shores was a small clearing. The fading moonlight lingered softly along the sodden earth as two figures lingered alone in the darkness.

Genkai calmly walked along the perimeter of the clearing; her hand trailing through the air. As she would take each step, a shimmer in the air indicated the concealment barrier was doing its job. Mai stood in the center of the barrier handling Kira's staff. Ever since the other day, she had been trying her best to contact her demon-half, but to no avail, the fire-apparition would not answer her.

Despite this however, she knew Kira was not entirely gone…no she was still there…but faintly; lingering quietly in the back of her mind. The guardian felt the apparition's loneliness and tried to call out to her once more, but she knew this also: no matter how desperately she cried to her, Kira wasn't strong enough to contact her in return…she never would be again…

"Master Genkai…?" Mai murmured as the elderly woman returned from placing up the barrier, "You said that since Kira is becoming so weak her powers are passing on to me…but…" she met the woman's eyes hopefully, "You never said that she would actually die, right? There's still a chance that her soul will—"

The old woman cut her off with a heavy sigh, "No, Mai…" her eyes held vague hints of pity and sorrow, "…I said that her soul is fading away…but I have never witnessed a case like this; I'm not entirely sure what will happen to Kira when she finally gives up her powers to you…"

"So there's still a chance?"

Genkai met her gaze sternly, "…Don't get your hopes up, Mai," she warned, "I never said that…I only said that I didn't know for sure; if you want a direct answer go talk to the sniveling prince up in that box seat of his…But I wouldn't expect the answer you want to hear…" the woman added quietly.

The guardian nodded slowly and let her eyes fall to the ground, "I…I just feel like I'm losing a part of my self…" she whispered.

The elder of the two watched her quietly, "Would you rather lose Yusuke?"

Mai froze and glanced up at the older woman, "What do you mean?"

She cocked her eyebrow slightly, "I told you before; with you as you are now, you're body will not be able to withhold the Seikoki energy that Kira is passing on to you. If you can't learn to control its power and in the same process allow her to pass on, Yusuke's life would be left unprotected…" her voice was forceful when she said this, "It may not seem as though you're doing much to protect him, Mai, but in reality you're doing much more than you realize…

"I probably shouldn't be saying this against that dimwit, but you need to become stronger than he is or at least keep within his range of power," she continued, "Kira has been waiting a long time to finally pass on; you need to let her go and look at the present; Yusuke needs you to look after him…" she paused and met the girl's gaze intensely, "I'm not always going to be around to make sure he doesn't do that stupid crap he's always getting into trouble for…"

The guardian saw in Genkai's eyes a hint of sadness when she said the last part. It made her wonder if she was almost planning on leaving them in the near future…but then again she was getting older and was probably just thinking of the day she would have to die like the rest of them eventually would…

Mai paused for a moment before she sighed, "…I don't want to lose Yusuke…" she whispered. She then met the old woman's gaze seriously, "I'm going to become strong enough to protect him; I'm gonna make sure he wins this tournament," she decided.

A tiny smile crept along the corners of Genkai's mouth. The woman watched the guardian a moment longer before turning and taking a few steps away, "That's the Mai I know…" she said with a smile in her voice, "Come on now; there are only so many hours we can spend here…" she stepped next to the barrier and quickly flicked in with her finger saying thoughtfully, "There should be time-reducing spell active too…"

"Time-reducing?" Mai repeated cautiously.

Genkai nodded, "It should give us a little more time to practice…got it from some guy named Dendè…" (a/n: well I thought that was funny—if anybody caught that. Since Justin Cook (voice of Yusuke) used to be the voice of Dendè in the DBZ series for awhile)(but that was just a small little joke; DBZ has nothing to do with this fic).

The woman turned back to her pupil, "Well we have a long way to go before this training is over…stand over there, Mai and hold your staff out like so…" she showed her the proper way and the guardian attempted to do as she was told, "Not like that…" Genkai ordered and corrected her, "You looked as though you were about to shove it up someone's ass…"

Mai stifled a snort of laughter and corrected her stance. It felt weird at first; she had to handle the staff precisely or the attack would turn out all wrong. Her tutor stood before her with her hands held behind her back as she conducted the guardian to the right stances.

"That's better, now…shift your position like so…" she instructed and showed her.

The guardian did as she was told while continuing to hold Kira's staff out in front of her.

"Good…now clear your mind, Mai…" Genkai ordered, "You can't let any distraction in while we're training, understand?"

She nodded without saying a word and closed her eyes.

It was less than a second afterwards when she suddenly heard the elder woman release an attack on her. The guardian cried out in surprise and her eyes shot open. Using Kira's staff, she batted the blast away and watched as it disintegrated against the barrier.

"I didn't say close your eyes, did I?" Genkai snapped, "If you were being that careless in a real battle your opponent could have easily killed you by now. It _is_ possible to clear your mind without closing your eyes…"

Mai glowered but did as she was told once again, this time keeping her eyes open.

But the woman frowned, "You're still angry; don't think I can't sense it; it's written all over your face for crying out loud…Now try it again…"

-

About ten tries, fifteen more stances and a flurry of drills later, Mai collapsed onto her knees wearily. She knelt there for a moment before falling onto her stomach and rolling onto her back. The girl stared up into the sky where the sun was just beginning to rise over the horizon of ocean a little bit away.

Genkai seemed almost unhappy when they had finished. Without saying a word, she rewrapped the tattered cloth around her face and removed the barrier from around them. The guardian stared after her silently and sighed.

"Are you disappointed in me, Master Genkai?" she asked quietly while returning her gaze to the sky above. The older woman stopped and rounded back towards the girl.

She too sighed and turned her head away, "No, Mai…but there is still much for you to learn…" there was sadness in her voice, "…You still have not completely come to the realization that Kira is going to leave you; and while you still hold on to that feeling, I'm afraid that there isn't anything I can teach you further…"

Mai tensed and watched her leave. The guardian lay there for a moment of silence; letting the words sink in deeper and deeper…

Then she broke down and cried. Just cried….Tears of failure, despair…loss…She rolled onto her stomach and buried her face deep into the dew-covered earth. Her sobs remained muffled by the grass beneath her.

_What am I going to do, Kira? _She murmured mentally, _What am I going to do without you…?_

_What would you do without Yusuke?_ Came her mind's own reply. Tears trickled down her face as she clenched her fists in the moist earth. What would she do without him? Her whole life was devoted to protecting him; if he was gone, she would be nothing…but she didn't want to lose Kira either…

She might never hear the apparition's soothing voice inside her head again…she would feel so alone without Kira's counseling…

But without Yusuke there would be nothing to live for anyway…

"…gods help me…" she murmured into the earth.

_I found a reason for me…_

_To change who I used to be…_

She punched the ground in her despair and let out an angry sob. Rolling again onto her back, she stared tearfully up into the gray morning dawn.

Genkai was right though…Yusuke needed her now…Kira…Kira's time had passed on; the only reason the apparition had remained here this long was to make sure Mai survived to inherit her powers…

"Kira…I…I'm so sorry…" she whispered and closed her eyes letting the sun wash over her; letting its warmth drown out the cold inside of her.

From the shadows behind the guardian, a lone figure watched the girl as she cried to herself. Their sunglasses flashed against the morning light and lit up a curious glint in their eyes.

Mai's thoughts suddenly turned to the detective she was charged to watch over...and she suddenly realized how lost she would be without him and that stupid thumbs-up he always gave her…

_A reason to start over new…_

"Yusuke…" she murmured as a tear trickled down the corner of her eye, "…gods you're such an ass for making me feel like this…" she whispered to herself, "but…

"…But it's worth it if it means I can be your guardian just a little bit longer…"

_And the reason is you…_

A hazy glow appeared hovering above the girl as she lay there…but it wasn't from the gray sunlight that enveloped the clearing…

Orbs of pink light drew themselves from out of the air and surrounded themselves around her as if drawn to the radiance around her. And yet she lay there motionless; her eyes still closed and rimmed with her tears; oblivious to what was happening around her. Lying a few feet away was her staff, which had begun to give off a dull pink light as well. The silver and gold veins along the pole started to give off a much brighter glow.

After a moment, there was silence as the girl went still and limp from exhaustion. It was another moment or so before the glow around her also settled and receded back into the guardian's body.

The man watching her stopped a moment before he cautiously stepped out from beneath the cover of the trees and into the clearing. Without hesitation, he calmly took the guardian's staff and the girl in his arms…and brought them both over towards a nearby tree and laid her against its trunk.

Toguro paused for a moment afterwards; studying her serene features…It was a wonder to him how he hadn't sensed the growing power within her. He frowned darkly as he watched her; that power would become stronger eventually…it would eventually become a threat.

His knuckles tightened as his sunglasses flashed in the dawn light; one swift move to the throat would finish it…but he stopped himself and his body relaxed. There was something intriguing about her; _almost as intriguing as Urameshi…_he thought wondrously.

Casually, he placed his hands in his pockets and made his way to the other side of the clearing where he hid himself once more beneath their shadows. _Just awhile longer…_he decided…he would watch her…

-

Sunlight danced between the leaves and sent shadows swaying over the guardian's calm features. A bird chirped above her and she stirred quietly. Mai blinked after a moment and opened her eyes to the light streaming in through the tree limbs.

She felt the hard bark of the tree behind her head, and her brow furrowed in confusion. Slowly she raised herself from the ground and looked around at her surrounding. _How did I get over here? _She thought incredulously.

The guardian blinked into the sunlight above her; judging by its position in the sky, it was hardly even ten…

Mai was still baffled by the means of how she had been moved when she gathered up Kira's staff. She stood slowly and glanced around the clearing with a sigh. The girl rubbed her temples weakly.

She froze suddenly when she heard the foliage rustling behind her. The girl whirled only to find that it was nothing but a few small animals. Frowning, she gathered up her staff and headed back into the trees and towards the hotel.

The girl dragged her staff wearily along the forest floor and stared despondently at the grass beneath her. She felt so lonely all of a sudden…there was an empty feeling within her now…

…She had finally let Kira go…

-

(a/n: well before I get into this part, I realized that Mai hasn't been w/ the yuyu group long enough for winter…so everyone please use your imaginations for this one! Gomen ne! Que sera sera!)

_Mai stared up into the night sky as she tucked her hands into her pockets. Her breath billowed out in front of her in a frigged cloud as the people around her bustled down the sidewalks; wasting no time in trying to get out of the cold. It didn't seem to bother her, though; she smiled and hummed softly to herself._

_No one paid her mind as she strolled along the roadside._

_Ice lined the roads and sidewalks from the cold weather plaguing them lately. That didn't seem to bring the guardian's spirits down as her smile continued to stay along her face._

_She glanced down at the bag in her hand and smiled. Although it was kind of hard not to since St. White's Day was only a day away now. She beamed and quickly counted each trinket in her bag making sure she had one for everyone. _

"_Kurama…Yusuke…hm, Botan, Hiei, Genkai, Kuwabara…oh! And one for Koenma too!" she smiled to herself and giggled softly as she remembered how tempted she was to buy the demigod another pacifier…_

_But suddenly, Mai found herself slipping on a sheet of ice beneath her feet and having her feet pop up in the air in front of her. She cried out in surprise as she began to fall towards the hard concrete._

_She winced in anticipation of the cold earth. Instead, a pair of arms wrapped around her; preventing her fall. Mai blinked in confusion briefly before glancing upwards towards the person who caught her. She frowned, however when she realized it wasn't anyone she knew. _

"_Oh, I'm so sorry!" she cried apologetically and stumbled to her feet, "I hope I didn't hurt you!"_

_The boy smiled, "No, don't worry about it… I just can't help but wonder what a pretty girl like you is doing out alone the night before St. White's Day!"_

_The guardian blushed furiously, "Just some last-minute shopping," she mumbled._

_He calmly took a step closer to her and she took a nervous one back, still trying to keep her cheerfulness._

"_Could I treat you to a movie?" the boy offered while still subtly moving closer to her. The girl noticed that they were growing dangerously close to the brick wall of one of the buildings nearby._

"_Or maybe just a walk?" he pondered as Mai found herself suddenly pinned between the wall and the boy._

"_No, that's okay…" she said uneasily as she tried to squeeze past him, "I have to head home anyway…"_

"_Aw come on, I insist…" he coaxed as he placed his hand right beside her head, "then maybe afterwards we could head over to my place—"_

_Mai jumped suddenly when the boy's face suddenly collided with the brick wall next to her. She sweatdropped nervously as the boy moaned painfully while his leg went into some sort of twitching-spasm._

"_He didn't do anything to you, did he?"_

_The guardian glanced up to find Yusuke watching the boy in distaste and then turning his gaze on her. She blinked and nervously rubbed the back of her head._

"_Uh…no not really…" she said and paused when she noticed the boy regain his wits and extract himself from the interior of the wall. He glanced at both of them for a moment before desperately scrambling away from the pair._

_Urameshi cracked his knuckles simultaneously, "Good…" he said watching the boy scurry away, "What are you doing out this late anyway…and by yourself too?" he asked before eyeing the bag in her hand suspiciously._

"_?" but then the she noticed what he was looking at and smiled, "Oh! Just some shopping for White's day!"_

_He looked confused, "White's…day…?" he repeated, "Isn't that when they guys are supposed to give presents, Mai?"_

"_Yeah!" she smiled cheerfully and suddenly fumbled through her bag, "But see? I have gift for everyone…" she paused as she pulled out one of her gifts, "Um…this one's for you," she said softly as she handed it to him; her face burning red, "It's a little early, but since you're already here, I guess it doesn't matter…"_

_He took it from her hands carefully, "Eh? You got one for me?"_

_Mai blinked, "Of course I did…why wouldn't I?"_

_Yusuke stood for a moment before shrugging, "I dunno…I just thought you would have just had a gift for Kurama and he would have gotten one for you…"_

"_Oh! I do, but I just decided to get a gift for everyone this year…since, you know, it's my first year with you guys…And we kind of skipped out on Valentines Day…" she paused for a moment, "Um...are you going to open it?" she asked meekly._

_The detective flushed and mumbled something inaudible._

_She smiled gently and suddenly pointed upwards, "Oh look, Yusuke!" Mai cried and stared up at the sky, "It's snowing!"_

_Confused, the detective followed her gaze to find the flurries drifting down from the heavens above. The guardian smiled as the snowflakes began to flutter around them; gentling catching themselves in her locks of crimson hair._

_They stood there; staring up at the night sky as the people around them began to make their way back to their homes._

"_We …should probably get back to grandma's…" Yusuke told her, "You might catch cold…"_

_Mai drew her attention from the heavens back to the detective and grinned, "Yeah, I guess your right—!" as if on cue, she let out a rather large sneeze. She blinked, but then regained her exuberance once more._

_Urameshi let out a short laugh and teasingly hit her over the head, "Come on already; the old hag will probably slaughter me if I bring you back sick…"_

"_Okay, okay!" she said and blocked his second attempt at hitting her, "Promise you'll open it when we get back?" she asked gesturing towards the package in his hands._

_He nodded and placed his hands behind his head, "Yeah I promise…Let's just get out of this damn cold—"_

_There was a flash beside him and he jumped; turning his head quickly. He relaxed slightly when he realized that it was only Mai as she cupped a small ball of light in her hands. Curious, he peered over to find a ball of flames dancing between her fingers…_

"_What the hell? Are you sure you're allowed to do that in public?" he inquired, but the girl nodded._

"_Yeah; it's made purely out of spirit energy, other humans can't see it remember?" she said calmly "…it just looks like flames, but it really is warm…here…" she said and handed the flaming ball to him. Warily, the detective cupped his hands and let her drop it into his hands. On instinct, he winced as if attempting to endure the scorching heat, but it was just as the guardian had said; it neither burned his hands nor created any type of smoke residue in the air._

"_Whoa…" he breathed and smirked playfully as he tossed it from hand to hand, "Did Genkai teach you this?"_

_She grinned proudly, "Nope, learned it by myself…it helps, doesn't it?"_

_The detective nodded, "Yeah it does."_

_Mai laughed at his wonder over the small ball of energy. Eyeing a patch of ice in front of her, she jumped nimbly into the air to land skidding over the ice. She had hardly made contact, before she slid and fell to the ground._

_Yusuke shook his head, laughing and stepped next to her and held out his hand, "Smooth…" he told her, "Real smooth, Mai—"_

_He cried out suddenly when the guardian hauled him to the ground after her. He lost his footing and slipped on the ice, landing next to her. She giggled and as he raised himself from off of the ground, she let herself fall the rest of the way to the ground; staring calmly up into the snowy sky._

"_Do you know what snow becomes, Yusuke?" she asked as he dusted himself off._

_Urameshi cocked an eyebrow, "Water?"_

_Mai smiled softly and slowly turned her head to him, "Nope…it becomes spring; no matter what. Without fail every year, the snow always yields to spring…"_

_Yusuke only watched her in amazement as she slowly closed her eyes; letting the flakes of snow caress her softly._

"_It always becomes spring…" she whispered._

(a/n: yes, yes, I got that last part from Volume 2 of Fruits Basket, but I just think that is the coolest line! Cuz it's so true, and that's exactly the way I think of it too!)

-

Yusuke fingered the small chain along his neck and the tiny vial that was attached to it. He smiled slightly when he remembered Mai's clumsy explanation that a locket wasn't manly enough so she had gotten him the vial with a picture folded neatly inside…that had been her White's Day gift for him; and the odd thing was, he hadn't found a moment where he would take it off…

Now the detective carefully removed the cork and the picture from its glass case. He unfolded the film and held in his fingers gingerly. It was the photo they had taken outside of Genkai's temple…but it had just been him and Mai on her own request as Botan had snapped the picture. A small grin formed at the corners of his mouth as he studied the guardian laughing and waving at the camera. The detective had gone ahead with his regular thumbs-up pose that time.

As he took a closer look at it, he realized thoughtfully that it reminded him of one of the pictures he had seen a few months ago when they had been protecting Mai against Ryu. They both looked like that other detective and guardian in those photographs Koenma had shown them…what where their names again? Yusuke puzzled over it for but a moment before shaking his head

Sighing, he placed it back in the vial and tucked the chain beneath his shirt once more. After that, he stood up from his seat on the boulder and held his hands out in front of him again. Mentally, he knew that it wouldn't work even after the hundredth time of trying; he couldn't find a way to fire off a single Spirit Gun attack…

"Damn…" he muttered after his final attempt and eyed his hands as if there was something broken about them.

"There you are, Yusuke…" Mai called as she stepped out from beneath the trees. Obviously she had caught the detective by surprise when he nearly did a face-falter into the ground. She noticed then the bandages along his cheek and forehead, "Those aren't from me, are they?"

Urameshi raised an eyebrow, "Nani? (What?) Oh these?" he asked gesturing towards his wounds, "Nah, these are nothing compared to the injuries you could give me…" he frowned after he had gotten a better look at her, "Man, you look beat…"

Mai shrugged quietly, "Couldn't sleep last night," she lied casually, "But you're not any better," she observed and he gave her a sheepish grin. The guardian rolled her eyes and gestured for him to sit down. He gave her a quizzical glance, but did as he was told.

She withdrew from her jacket a roll of gauze she had gathered from the hotel infirmary, "Take off your shoe, will you? And show me that heel of yours…" she ordered quietly. Yusuke grumbled something about being mothered too much by her and received a quick smack to the arm. The detective winced before he continued to remove his shoe.

Without saying a word, the guardian diligently wrapped the gauze around his injured heel. Urameshi watched quietly as the girl bandaged his wound in silence. Something felt odd about her…something was different…

"Is there something wrong, Mai?" he asked cautiously just in case she retaliated in her fury.

Her head jerked up as if she had been deep in though, "Hm? No…no it's nothing…I…I've just been thinking…"

"'Bout what?" he inquired as the girl tied the final knot on the bandage. She didn't answer him, though as she tucked the gauze back into her pocket. The detective cocked an eyebrow as if to persist in his inquisition, but still she said nothing. Mai held her arm gently and turned her head away from him; her eyes looking glazed and distant…

Yusuke wouldn't give up however, and wouldn't yield his gaze to her stubbornness. She tried to ignore him, but the detective could tell that it was becoming harder and harder for her to; as if she wanted to tell him something, but couldn't find the right words to say it in…

After a moment in their silence, Mai slowly turned her eyes on him; almost as if she wasn't moving at all. The detective started in surprise when he saw the tears filling her eyes…but it wasn't only her tears that caught his attention, but the dim glow fading swiftly from her azure orbs…as if her conscious state was slipping away from her…

"Mai?" Urameshi questioned worriedly as a crystal tear slid down her cheek, "What's going on…?"

An empty smile formed at her lips; bitter sweet…just…empty without any emotion almost… "Have you ever had a part of you ripped out, Yusuke?" she asked softly; her voice distant, "As if someone had torn out a piece of your very essence and thrown it to the wind?"

The detective frowned, "What the hell are you talking about?" he demanded, "Where are you getting this from?"

She laughed hollowly and looked down at the ground, "…Do you remember Kira?" she inquired now; ignoring him, "…When we were fighting Ryu, Koenma told you about her, right?"

He nodded slowly, "Yeah…so?"

The bitter smile of hers remained along her face, "…She was a guardian like me…" she murmured quietly, "…And even though she died fifty years ago…her soul was reborn within me, and she has been with me ever since our first battle with Ryu…sort of like a second person living inside of me…

Urameshi cocked an eyebrow warily, but said nothing as the guardian remained in her dream-like state; it was almost beginning to scare him: What the hell was she talking about? More importantly, what the hell was going on with her!

Her eyes raised themselves slowly to the sky as she watched a stray cloud pass by above. It almost seemed as though she was in a daze…as if she was recalling a dream…or in this case maybe a nightmare…

"She's gone, Yusuke…" she breathed in hardly more than a whisper. And without warning tears began streaming full-force down her cheeks, "Oh gods, she's gone…and…and I feel so alone…"

The detective noticed how tightly she clutched the fabric of her blouse between her fists; almost to the point of turning her knuckles completely white. He watched as her shoulders trembled violently.

Mai shook her head and clenched her eyes shut as the tears continued to flow, "It's like a part of me has been ripped out from my soul; it's not even like I'm myself anymore…" she whispered in disbelief, "I could always feel her before; watching over me and making sure I was alright…but it's gone…she's gone…"

"You're burning up, Mai…" Yusuke said worriedly as he swiftly felt her forehead, "You're ill; you're not making sense—"

"You wouldn't understand…" she suddenly murmured darkly, "You don't know what it feels like to feel torn apart like this; I can't stand it! She's never coming back…she's never coming back, Yusuke!" she sobbed and buried her face in her hands, "It was either Kira or you! I betrayed her; she's never coming back because of me!"

Urameshi studied her inquisitively, "What do you mean it was either Kira or me?" he shook his head, "Never mind. Come on, Mai, I'm gonna take you back to the hotel; you're not well…"

He reached out and grasped her hand gently, but she ripped it away crossly, "I'm not sick!" she insisted as tears formed again in her sapphire eyes, "I had to make a choice, Yusuke!" she shouted angrily, "I had to become stronger to protect you; so I could remain your guardian! But in doing so I had to destroy Kira! Don't you understand!" she sobbed tearfully, "I destroyed a part of myself for you! I didn't want to lose one of my closest friends because I was too weak to protect them!"

The detective tensed when she said this and stared at her incredulously as she began to weep uncontrollably. Urameshi stood there for a second in a stunned silence as he let the words sink in while Mai's sobs were heard muffled between her hands. Slowly, he dropped to his knees beside her and studied her carefully.

"You…you would do that for me?" he asked wondrously.

Mai nodded forcefully; her eyes never meeting his, but she didn't say anything more to him. Her body trembled as she continued to weep pitifully and as the detective continued to watch her.

"I…I just feel so alone, Yusuke…" she murmured, "…You don't know what it feels like to have a part of you ripped out…it's such a terrible feeling; as if you don't want to go on while you're still feeling that empty inside…" a tear plummeted to the earth, "But I have to go on…don't I? That's the reason I did this in the first place…"

_I just feel so alone…_

Urameshi paused a moment before carefully letting a small smile grow along his lips, "What are we going to do with you, Mai?" he wondered, "When are you going to learn that you're too damn sensitive for your own good?"

The guardian slowly removed her hands from her face, but once again said nothing to this. She sniffed loudly and wiped furiously at her teary eyes.

His smile brightened softly, "You're not going to be alone while you're my guardian; don't you know that?"

It took a moment before Mai slowly lifted her eyes to his; they were puffy and red, but still they held traces of her sorrow. Her azure orbs fixed hopefully at him; as if his words were too good to be true.

"Do you mean it?" she whispered; her voice quaking from her weeping.

Yusuke gave her his thumbs-up, "If I didn't, I wouldn't have said that would I?"

A weak smile played at the corners of her mouth as she nodded slowly. She wiped irritably at the remaining teardrops in her eyes, but did no good as a new wave of tears poured from the guardian's eyes. Urameshi seemed a little confused when she began to cry again…and even more baffled when she suddenly wrapped her arms around his waist; sobbing into his shirt.

He blinked and stared down at her, but didn't try to disturb her as she drenched his front with tears. The detective then uncertainly placed his hands gently on her back to try and steady the shaking she was suffering from.

"Thank you…" she murmured into his chest, "…Thank you for being my friend, Yusuke…"

-

a/n: hm…well I feel like I need to add on, but for right now (since it's getting pretty long on this Word document) I'm just gonna leave it like this and get to the rest in the next chapter…

and okay, so I lied a little bit; I said there would be some fluffiness in this chapter—and I guess there was a little bit—but it was a bit more angst-oriented than I expected…ah o well…

But, wow, this is like déjà vu! It's like all of my reviewers have disappeared :Sniffle: ha, but I'll cut you all a break since it's the Holidays and you're probably all celebrating w/ your families…

Merry Christmas! (or just Happy Holidays to all of you who don't celebrate xmas : )


	14. Rebirth: Phase 1

DISCLAIMER: I don't own any yyh stuff. I do own Mai, Kira, and Ryu and all the original storyline/tweaks to the actual episodes…

a/n: DAMNSTUPIDFRICKIN COLD!!!!! ::pants heavily:: even though technically it's not a cold, just a really bad cough…o well; same difference I guess LoL…

Well after watching this week's YYH episode, I feel inspired to write the next chapter!!! Hurray!!!

Thankies to my reviewers!

TonyDeMerasbedroomslave: I'm glad you enjoyed it!! Happy Holidays to you and your family!!

Umeko Saito: I didn't take your review? Hm…it might not have come through if you tried to review the last chapter (I didn't get a review, at least…) but I'm glad you liked the fluffy-angst! Happy Holidays!

Sarah1281: Nani? She doesn't have a story up about a dream, does she? Well anyways, It's the 'Punks' and 'College Punks' story (that I'm in ::girl laugh:: LoL)

_Thoughts/Flashback_

_Fire Angel_

::Rebirth: Phase 1::

"_Thank you, Yusuke…" she murmured into his shirt, "…Thank you for being my friend…"_

The guardian sighed quietly to herself as she lay along the outcropping of land stretching a little ways out into the ocean. The sea thundered mildly beneath her and crashed into the cliff-face. She propped her head on her hands as she stared over the wide expanse of horizon.

She felt suddenly tired though after being with Yusuke a little more than an hour earlier. It was even becoming a task to keep her eyes open as she lay there. But it felt comforting to sit beneath the sunshine; as if it gave her strength to absorb its rays.

"_You're not going to be alone while you're my guardian; don't you know that?"_

Mai smiled softly to herself, "I know that now, Urameshi…"

She sat there a moment longer before her gaze fell on the sky above her and she felt a sudden feeling of emptiness within her once again. Gods it was going to take a lot longer to come to the fact that Kira was never coming back…

…Never coming back…

The words echoed hollowly through her mind as she repeated them to herself. They held bits of remorse and sorrow as they relayed over and over inside of her. She closed her eyes as if to force out the thought; it was a choice she had to make…and she made it; meaning the former guardian would pass on peacefully into the afterworld…

_Probably having the time of her life…_she thought with a dismal smile, _that would be good,_ she decided and gazed up into the heavens.

"You better be having a good time," she said to the sky, "Don't make me regret doing this, Kira…"

Mai went quiet for a moment as her gaze remained on the clouds drifting overhead. Genkai had told her that she couldn't teach the guardian anything more until she had learned to cope with the fact the Kira would leave this world…and now that the former guardian was gone, did that mean she had gotten over it?

Suddenly tempted to go find the old woman, she quickly rose to her feet and started to make her way back to the hotel when she froze again. Genkai was probably back in the hotel room with the others; if she just went in there suddenly asking to train with her, they would suspect something. And something told her that the old hag wouldn't be over ecstatic if her cover was blown.

The guardian now found herself stuck; she would have to wait until tomorrow then…which wasn't going to be good if their team would have a match a few hours later. She furrowed her brow with frustration and gnawed gently on her lip; but she had to figure out if she had truly gotten over the fact that Kira was gone; she had to know if she could continue training!!

She placed her head in her hand to straighten out her thoughts; she couldn't train with Genkai until the next day…but she had to figure out if she was even ready to go on with that training! It was dangerous to train by herself; she could hurt herself if she did it the wrong way…there was no one else to help her, though; she was nearly positive that the old woman wanted to keep their sessions a secret for the time being…

_Maybe…_she wondered_…Maybe Koenma knows…maybe he'd be able to…help…_

Her thoughts drifted off as she caught sight of someone below her. She moved to the edge of the cliff and stared over the edge at one of the rock-formations sticking out from the ocean where a short someone stood facing out towards the horizon. The guardian then noticed the black clothing and the white headband around there head and recognized the person as her teammate…

Hiei stared down at his katana wordlessly; but there was something in his eyes that almost held hints of disappointment…or something of the sort. Mai realized suddenly that his right arm was badly injured; scorched by the look of it.

_Where did he…?_ But then she remembered what Kurama had told her about his fight with Zeru; that he had called forth the Dragon of the Darkness Flame using his arm as a lure for the dark energy…She watched in wonder at the damage done to it and the desperation of the demon as he struggled to hold his sword in his right hand.

He succeeded to have his hand wrap around the hilt, but as he tried to raise it into a fighting stance, he suddenly cried out in pain and dropped the katana on the rock below. He fell to his knees in pain and cradled his arm to his chest. His head rested on the earth beneath him as the ocean crashed around him.

_Poor Hiei…_the guardian thought despondently, _gods, that must be the worst to not be able to fight like that—_

_I don't need your pity, onna,_ suddenly came the apparitions sharp reply. Mai jumped and noticed Hiei's gaze quickly flicker towards her on the cliff. She flushed and quickly turned on her heel back towards the forest; leaving the apparition to his despair.

Seemingly angry, she stormed through the trees back towards the hotel; there was nothing she could do but wait for Genkai…or wait for the right moment, as it appeared now…

She sighed in frustration; this couldn't wait though!! But Genkai would surely slaughter her if she tried to train by herself (assuming she didn't seriously hurt herself before then)…she had to figure out if she could go on training; if she had finally gotten over Kira's passing—

"Psst! Mai?"

The guardian whirled to find Kuwabara's head sticking out from beneath one of the bushes nearby. She raised an eyebrow questioningly.

"Kazuma?" she inquired and walked over to the shrub, "What are you doing?"

"Shh! Can I ask you something?" he gestured for her to follow him a little further into the woods and she shrugged. He stopped a little ways into the trees and let Mai stand in front of him. The redhead opened his mouth and closed it a few times, as if trying to say something but unable to find the right words.

Finally he blurted it out: "Mai, you're a girl right?"

_Slap!_

The guardian's eye ticked and an artery pulsed in her temple, "Yes, Kuwabara," she growled threateningly, "I'm a girl."

He massaged the red welt along his cheek, "Ow…" he whined, "Eh…that's not exactly what I meant…"

Mai cocked an eyebrow, "Oh really?"

Kazuma nodded, "Well, what I meant was that since you're a girl…you might be able to help me…" his face had not turned a beet red and he scratched the back of his neck bashfully, "Couldyougivemetipsongirls?" he blurted.

She blinked, "What?"

He took a deep breath, "Could you…" he said slowly, "…give me…tips on girls…?"

Mai blinked again and suddenly found herself trying her best not to laugh since the redhead was already embarrassed for asking her in the first place. After her shock, she folded her arms over her stomach, "Well…erm, what do you want to know?"

Kuwabara plopped onto the ground cross-legged staring up at the guardian. She followed his lead and sat down as well; studying him inquisitively.

"Well you know how we had to send Yukina back to the ice-world place?" he asked.

_Ohhh…_she knew where this was going, "Yeah, I remember…"

He sighed, "I…er, well…I—part of the reason I decided to join in this tournament was partially to impress her when we came back…"

Mai smiled softly, "You don't have to impress her, Kazuma," _even though she is a little oblivious to the fact that he likes her_ she thought to herself, "You just have to be yourself; if she doesn't like you for who you are then you're better off without her—"

The redhead paled and his face dropped as if he was suddenly crushed, "B-but she's my soul mate!" he cried and gripped her by the collar, "MY SOULMATE!!"

She sweatdropped as he shook her violently, "Okay, okay!!" the guardian said and wrenched herself from his death-grip, "If you feel that strongly about it, then I'll help you!! Just…don't strangle me…" she added warily as she adjusted her collar. Kuwabara perked up suddenly and whipped from his pocket a pad of paper and pen.

Slapping her hand to her head, Mai sighed, "Put those away Kazuma; you don't need to take notes on this."

He looked confused as he tucked the writing utensils back in his pocket and the guardian shook her head.

"Like I said before; you just have to be yourself…say what comes first to your mind—" she paused thinking over this last suggestion, "Er…just as long as it's not something perverted, how bout that?"

Kazuma nodded and sat erect attentively, "But what if I can't think of anything?"

Mai frowned (she didn't think of that…plus she didn't know the ice-apparition well enough to know exactly what she liked…), "Then compliment her…on…well; what do you like best about her?"

Kuwabara thought for a moment before a dreamy look came over his face, "Everything…" he drooled and the guardian sweatdropped while shaking her head.

"Alrighty then…okay…well if you can't find something that comes to mind or any compliments…" she pondered on it for a moment before a small smile came to her face, "You could give her a gift; nothing too large or anything like that; but something small and meaningful…"

"…?" the redhead tilted his head.

She sighed, "…A flower, Kazuma, for starters? Take a rose for example; simple yet meaningful at the same time…something simple like that is a great gift…"

"Really?" he asked, "Do you think she'd like that?"

Mai grinned, "I don't see why she wouldn't."

Kuwabara sat there for a moment thinking; staring down at the ground. The guardian studied him carefully (it wasn't everyday she saw him thinking so intensely). After a moment, he snapped his fingers and jumped to his feet.

"I got it!!" he cried out enthusiastically as he raced back towards the hotel, "Thanks Mai!!" he called back to her.

She smiled after him as she slowly stood a moment later. Stretching, she stared off into the sky…she just hoped that she didn't just create a monster right then. She shuddered; that would be a little creepy—

The guardian let out a soft cry and clutched her chest. A brief wave of pain swept through her veins as her knuckles turned white along the fabric of her shirt.

But as soon as it had come, it vanished, and the girl blinked in surprise. Warily, she shook her head and started back on her way through the woods.

-:-

Cautiously, Mai knocked a couple times on the giant oak doors. She waited a moment and glanced down either way down the hallway where the incessant cheering and roars of the demon audience could be heard faintly off.

"Jorge! Get the door!" came an angry voice from beyond the entryway. There was the hurried scuttling of footsteps just before the doors opened slightly and the blue ogre's face poked itself out into the hallway.

She made a curt nod with her head out of respect, "I wanted to see Koenma…"

"Oh!" the ogre nodded and opened the door wider, "Koenma, sir, Miss Mai is here—"

But the toddler had already hopped down from his giant armchair and made his way over towards the door hastily. He leaned his head back to really get a better look at the girl, "What is it, Mai?"

The guardian had to stare down at the demigod in return, "I…I wanted to speak with you, sir…"

He cocked an eyebrow and studied her carefully, "Come on in, then," he answered slowly and turned back towards the opposite side of the room. The girl watched him as he hopped back into his chair and stared out the giant window before him. Jorge stood back to let her step inside, and she did so cautiously while he closed the door behind her. Mai stepped beside his chair and stared down into the arena as he did.

It was a three-on-three battle going on; a trio of humans, it appeared, against a team of demons. The thing she noticed, however, about these humans was that there was some sot of organism growing along their backs. But they were destroying their opponents with such ease; their attacks weren't even visible to the guardian—

"So what did you want to talk to me about?" Koenma asked without taking his eyes off the match. The guardian gnawed on her bottom lip nervously.

_If you want a direct answer go talk to the sniveling prince up in that box seat of his…But I wouldn't expect the answer you want to hear…_

She sighed heavily and stared absently down at her feet, "Sir…if I may, what…what's going to happen to Kira…?"

The demigod removed his eyes from the match and eyed the girl carefully, "What do you mean, Mai?"

"I mean…" she started slowly, "What's going to happen to Kira if—since she's passed on…?"

Koenma's eyes didn't leave her as he suddenly realized what she was saying. But he sighed also and rubbed his temples wearily, "I'm not sure…"

She froze and her gaze swiftly returned to him, "What do you mean you're 'not sure'?" she demanded quietly, "You're supposed to be in charge of these sort of things, Koenma; how can you not be sure?"

He sighed again, "It's not as if she died, Mai; that already happened once to her…but since her soul was reborn in you, she was technically never alive to begin with…" he gazed back down into the ring, "Since she never actually regained her own body to live in, she became merely a soul within another soul…

"But over time Kira became weak, didn't she? She couldn't hold on any longer and she was losing her ties to the human world," he continued, "Each time she began to slip away, a part of her just…disappeared…there's no place in the human world where he soul could have resided…" his voice grew quiet, "If…if she had decided to return to Makai then…maybe she could have remained there…"

Mai went numb for only a moment as she stared blankly out in front of her, "…Kira….she could have survived…?" she whispered quietly, "She could have saved herself…?"

Koenma nodded slowly; afraid to meet her gaze, "But she decided to stay on earth with you, Mai; she wanted to make sure that her powers passed on to you so that you could protect Yusuke…" he sighed once more, "If she did leave you before now, those powers would have merely disappeared…and you probably wouldn't have been able to see her again anyway…"

Tears filled her eyes, "But…she could have saved herself…" she murmured in disbelief, "Dammit, she could have saved herself!!" she yelled angrily and suddenly slammed her fist into the nearby wall. The demigod flinched as a crater appeared beneath her hand. She stood there for a moment glaring at the ground in her fury before she suddenly sank to her knees…and tears plummeted quietly to the ground.

"…She…she could have saved herself…" she whispered; staring off into the empty void in front of her, "…gods she could have saved herself…"

The toddler watched her sadly and he quietly hopped down from his chair. Mai placed her head in her hands and her shoulders began to quake as Koenma carefully stepped next to her.

_When are you going to learn that you're too damn sensitive for your own good?_

_Kira…gods, what were you thinking? You could have left this sin-filled world and passed on to a better life years ago…but you stayed here with me…why? You had to be the hero and stay and watch over me instead of giving yourself a second chance. What were you thinking those years?...You could have moved on to Makai…but you stayed here…_

_Why didn't you save yourself??!!_

"I…I care too much about people, Koenma…" the girl continued softly, "Then they're always ripped away from me; I can't stand it anymore…"

_And I'm not going to let that happen again…_she decided.

"I'm sorry, Mai…" the demigod said quietly, "If there was something I could do—"

"No, Koenma…" the girl cut him off, shaking her head and continued in hardly more than a whisper, "No…it…it was her choice…if this is how she wanted it, then there's nothing I can do about it…"

She stood without saying another word and made her way back towards the large oak doors. As her hand reached out to the handle, she turned back to the toddler and smiled sadly.

"Thank you, though…for telling me the truth…"

-:-

Mai stared out over the balcony in silence as the sun was just beginning to stain the horizon orange. Yusuke and Kuwabara had gone to the stadium to watch the final match of the day; Toguro vs. the Spirit Warriors team…but she just didn't have the stomach for it. Hiei was no where to be seen while Kurama had gone to find supplies for dinner when everyone got back. The girls had mostly kept to their hotel room for the day; and she didn't really feel like seeing them that much anyway…

"Kira…" she murmured suddenly, "…What were you thinking…?"

It still baffled her how the former guardian could have made a choice like that…even though she didn't know what lay before her once her spirit merely…disappeared. It made no sense to her…

_But she was thinking of us…_came her own reply_...she was thinking of me and Yusuke…_

She closed her eyes slowly as a tear pricked at the corner of her eye and trickled slowly down her cheek. The guardian opened them a moment later and stared off into the ocean as the faint memories she had of a certain dream came back to her.

_She gave us a chance that she and Shunichi didn't have…_

The memories of the bloody battle between the guardian and the detective and their foe came back to her now…how they both lay helpless on the battlefield; and with her dying breath, Kira had tried to destroy Ryu—

Mai froze suddenly as her body tensed…w-was that it…?

_She didn't want Yusuke and me to share the same fate she did with Shunichi…she wanted to give us a second chance…_

"Is that it, Kira?" the guardian whispered up into the sky, "were you being so selfless that you were only thinking of me and Yusuke?" Mai let out a small, hollow laugh, "I should have known, then…that's probably what I would have done in your place too…" she stared up into the fading orange light, "…I can't believe that you would do something that stupid without even knowing what the outcome would be…"

"The outcome that involves Mai learning how to control the new powers given to her, and this team making it out of this damn tournament alive…?"

The guardian whirled to find Genkai watching her from the center of the living room. She blinked and wiped away the tears in her eyes, "You heard that?"

She nodded as she calmly stepped out onto the balcony as well, "Enough of it to hear you blubbering to yourself…"

Mai sniffed and wiped her eyes with her wrist, saying nothing as she stared back off into the horizon, "Master Genkai…are…are you willing to train with me for one more time tonight…?"

The old woman cocked an eyebrow, "And why would you want to do that, Mai?"

"Be-because I want to show you that I've overcome Kira's passing—" she froze and sighed sadly, shaking her head, "…No…I don't think I'll ever truly get over her passing …but I'm not going to forget her, Genkai; her memory gives me strength…"

For a moment, the woman watched her carefully, but then she snorted and folded her arms, "Well I never told you to forget her, did I?" a small grin grew along her jaw, "You've changed, Mai; you need to know that. You've matured well past your years and sacrificed so much for those you care about…personally, I admire you for that…"

She blinked again, "What?"

Her smile grew slightly, "Over the past months, you've become remarkably like Kira, but that's not to say that you still have your own personal characteristics too; and one of them is your love towards others. I admire the fact that you're willing to give up so much for that dimwit of mine without even thinking of getting something in return," the woman stepped up to the railing and too stared off towards the horizon, "There are few people like you, Mai who care so little for themselves, but wouldn't trade the world for their friends and loved ones.

"Kira knew that and this also; that despite whatever happened to her, you would be able to find ways to benefit from that…and in this case, you have matured and become wise beyond your years…"

The guardian stared at her for a long moment; studying her carefully, but the woman met her gaze sincerely. When the girl couldn't find the words to say, the old woman smiled slightly and beckoned for her to follow her back through the hotel room.

"Come on…" she said as she opened the hotel door, "Before daylight runs out…we might want to try and get that session in, right?"

Mai stood there in silence for a moment, before she too smiled and, picking up Kira's staff on the way, hurried after the woman through the doors.

-:-

With a dull _clank_, Kira's staff was struck into the ground in the center of the clearing. Mai stared at it for a brief moment as she stepped back for a second and looked to Genkai for any criticism. But the old woman nodded her on.

"Tonight is a better time to be doing this anyway…" she explained, "You'll be able to recover at least some of your energy by tomorrow, besides…" she added a bit too quietly, "I'm not quite sure when we'll get another time to do this…" but then she shook her head as if to rid herself of a thought and gestured towards the staff in the ground, "Take hold of it, Mai; I'll try and talk you through the rest of it…"

The guardian did so warily; keeping an eye on the old woman as if trying to understand what she was trying to do.

"This will probably be the most difficult part of this training…" Genkai told her warningly, "I'm afraid the only thing I can do for you is to tell you what to do…the rest you must do on your own, understand?"

She nodded quietly while keeping her eyes fixed on Kira's staff. Her body simultaneously began to tremble, however as if she suddenly became afraid of what this trial would do…

Genkai stepped in front of her so that they were both separated by the staff between them. The old woman placed her palm against the cool metal, and with a sudden cry, released a burst of energy through the rod between them.

The power raced through the silver and gold veins in the staff and shot up and along the pole until the entire staff was alight with the energy. Mai watched it wondrously as it merely stayed like that; absorbing the energy the woman had presented to it.

"Be ready, Mai!" Genkai warned suddenly, but not quickly enough for the guardian to comprehend what she was saying.

She cried out in both surprise and pain as a flash of light enveloped the clearing. The staff in her hands quaked violently and made it difficult for her to hang on to it any longer. Shots of pain raced up and down her arms as tendrils of light tore themselves away from the gold rod and into the air. Mai winced and closed her eyes to block out the pain.

"Kira locked much of her power into that staff," the old woman called to her through the flashes of light, "It's now drawing itself to you; for right now let it come to you, Mai; don't fight it!"

The guardian relaxed slightly, but not enough that she didn't try to block out the throbbing pain. The tendrils of light snaked in and out of the air as if searching for somewhere to go…and as though they sensed Mai's energy nearby; they turned their attention to her and eerily entwined themselves around her wrist. They slowly began to crawl along her arm and every once in awhile, they would pierce through the flesh of her arm. She closed her eyes and whimpered to herself.

Kira's staff pulsed suddenly as a white wave of energy radiated through the air for but a moment. Then, tiny orbs of light slowly drifted out from the pulsation and into the air, hovering above them omnisciently. And the tendrils in her arm then began to beat slowly into her flesh…as they did so, faint streams of light were seen traveling through the veins of her arm and throughout the rest of her body.

Above them, the orbs of light slowly started to descend back towards the earth. Mai's gaze remained on the staff however, as she struggled to keep her hold on the rod. She could feel it though; she could feel the energy Genkai had told her about…it felt restless, as if it couldn't wait to escape from the staff and show its true powers. It was an incredible feeling almost…especially since it was drawing itself into her. But what she failed to notice were the orbs of light drifting down around them; some even attaching themselves to her hair and clothes, but the rest lay shimmering along the earth.

Genkai's eyes went wide for a moment before she cried out warningly, "You're body is too weak to contain the rest of the energy, Mai!"

The girl turned to her, "What does that mean?!"

"It means that since you're unable to hold its power, you're body will have to evolve enough so that it doesn't kill you!" the old woman replied.

Mai tensed suddenly as she remembered what Kira had told her a few months ago…

_I guess since you aren't a full demon, the effect was different for you...But since you picked up my staff, your powers have been working within you; building up and making ready to truly evolve. But to do that, I guess your body itself had to evolve as well to contain all of the power..._

The guardian went numb for a moment. The first time this had happened, her body had to transform, making her part demon…but if she had to evolve again, what would that make her—?

But then, a final orb of light cascaded down from the air above them, and gently caught itself in the girl's hair. But the moment it did this, it was as if the entire world around her went gray. But it only came from the giant cyclone whipping around her and Kira's staff. Genkai was suddenly no where to be seen, nor could she hear the old woman apart from the furious roaring of the winds tearing at her.

The orbs of light that had remained along the earth were suddenly thrown into the air and into the angry whirlwind. Now, they flashed around her in streams of swirling light.

There was a bright glow emitting from Kira's staff now and the guardian watched it in near fascination as it shimmered with an otherworldly light. But her fascination quickly turned to fear when the illumination spread apart from the staff and charged towards the guardian, enveloping her in the light.

Searing pain suddenly tore through her as the staff's glow drew itself to the girl. Her blood boiled and she felt her heart beginning to pace at a dangerous rate. Something ripped through her veins and she cried out in agony. But that cry was soon drowned out by the cyclone roaring around her.

Despite the pain she received from the golden rod, her grip tightened around the staff in determination; if anything, she was merely afraid to let go.

The glow enveloping the staff started to build and spiraled up towards the pinnacle of the rod where it pulsated with the energy trying to find a way into the guardian. Suddenly, the light growing at the top of the staff exploded into tiny bullets of its radiance, shooting out around the girl and bouncing back and forth between the walls of the whirlwind.

Mostly, however, these bullets appeared to draw themselves to the girl; pummeling her over and over again mercilessly; slicing at her face and arms…as if trying to force their way into her body when no other means would work. The pellets of light charged at the girl repeatedly and she began to cry out of her pain.

The bullets suddenly began drive themselves into her chest and abdomen; piercing through her stomach and returning out the other side for yet another chance at gaining entrance to the guardian. She felt blood staining her shirt now and bile beginning to fill in the back of her throat. The girl struggled not to buckle over, but found it difficult as the bullets of light continued on their angry rampage.

"Gods…oh gods…" she whimpered as tears filled her eyes, "…someone help me…"

Genkai stood outside of the cyclone and bowed her head forlornly. After a moment she looked back up where she could faintly make out Mai's cries of pain. She winced and sighed sadly…there was nothing more she could for the guardian; this was where she had to take matters into her own hands…

"Come on, Mai…" she whispered into the roaring wind.

The guardian sobbed as her own thoughts were drowned out by the deafening whirlwind around her. The bullets of light we becoming larger now, but she new her body couldn't take much more of the abuse she was receiving from the energy.

But what was she supposed to do?!

She suddenly let out a strained groan and doubled over with one hand still hanging desperately onto the staff. One of the larger balls of light had struck her from behind; piercing the flesh along her back. Blood was now trickling down her spine and along her leg towards the grassy earth. But the wind became stronger and faster and would draw the blood out from her wounds and send it spinning in the cyclone.

Desperately, she dragged herself up next to Kira's staff and wrapped both arms around it as her tears cascaded down her wounded face. She felt her body tremble as her strength quickly began to depart from her. The guardian shut her eyes tightly as once more she cried out when another bullet struck her in the side.

_Why am I letting myself go through all of this?_ She thought in her anguish and clutched tighter to the rod, _gods why won't someone help me?!_

Mai let out a choked sob and leaned her head against the pole, "…Y-Yusuke…" she whimpered, "…oh gods, Yusuke…don't let me die…"

"_You're not going to be alone while you're my guardian; don't you know that?"_

_Don't let me die, Yusuke…_

"Oh gods…just don't let me die…" she whispered desperately and trembled against the staff, "I need you…to be here with me…to…to be my friend…"

Another bullet collided with her in the shoulder. She screamed and felt herself being thrown forward from the blast. Her body shuddered as she caught herself on Kira's staff…but as she held onto it, more tendrils detached themselves from the rod and wrapped themselves along her arms and shoulders; almost as if binding her to the staff.

She began to cry fearfully, but couldn't find the strength to tear away from the rod. Once more the tendrils started to send energy into her, but it felt as if her body couldn't hold anymore; that it was almost ready to tear her apart from the inside out.

"Make it stop!" she cried into the howling wind, just as another bullet shot at her, and her tears flew into the air like tiny crystals, "…oh gods, I can't take it any longer…"

"_You're not going to give up that easily are you?_" came a faint, but familiar voice.

The guardian's eyes shot open and weakly, she raised her head. She blinked in confusion…she…she could swear that she saw Yusuke standing in front of her…but it wasn't him; his outline was faint and blurry, and she couldn't see him that well. Though, that could have been from the agonizing pain she was trying to endure…

But she knew it couldn't be him…it just couldn't be him…

"Y-Yusuke…?" Mai murmured weakly.

The detective didn't really answer, but he squatted in front of her and put his hands on his knees. But as the girl watched, she realized that the bullets of light flying through the air would pass right through him…that couldn't be him then…right? Besides…she noticed…his voice was so far and distant…like a dream…

"_Hey…_" he said and scratched the side of his cheek while giving her his goofy grin, "_Don't make me save you again, Mai…_" his smile brightened slightly, "_This is nothing; we've been through worse, remember? So just suck it up for a little longer…_"

Tears streamed down her face and she let out a small sob, "It hurts so much though…I can't take anymore of it…" she shook her head and stared up at him with her tear-filled eyes, "…Don't let me die, Yusuke…" she pleaded softly, "…I want to be your guardian…for just a little bit longer…I…I don't want to die yet!!"

He smiled sadly and reached out his hand to her. She stared at it in confusion and back up to his mist-like face. Cautiously, she stretched out her trembling hand towards his and slowly let it fall.

She started in surprise and near fear when she felt his hand wrap around her own. But…but she knew it wasn't him; she knew it couldn't be Yusuke…and yet she felt him as if he truly was there with her. The apparition of the detective smiled softly and carefully drew her to him. Mai sobbed and wrapped her arm around him with one hand still grasping the staff. She felt his arms wrap around her back and she leaned wearily onto his shoulder and cried in despair.

"_You're not going to be alone while you're my guardian; don't you know that?_" this Yusuke murmured into her hair, and the guardian nodded tearfully.

"I want to protect you…" she whispered, "I want to be your guardian for just awhile longer…"

"_Then hold on, Mai…hold on for just a little bit more…_"

Suddenly, the ghostly vision of the detective faded away into the roaring wind. The guardian staggered forward as the apparition vanished. She sat there for but a moment staring off at the ground as the bullets of light swirled dangerously around her.

Slowly, she started to stand on her feet—another pellet struck her in the stomach and she fell back to one knee, but then she tried once more. Both hands now latched onto the cool metal of the staff as she staggered to her feet. Several of the tendrils that had attached themselves to her broke off and fell limply back into the essence of the rod. She heaved in breaths of air heavily as her hair whipped around her. The wind howled furiously and seemed to swirl harder and faster around her.

Mai winced as it appeared that the wind had become so fierce that would slice at her like a razor. It felt as through her feet would no longer support her, and yet she continued to clutch onto Kira's staff for dear life. Her mind raced frantically as she tried to recall how the transformation had taken place before…but then she was asleep; she didn't even remember any of it when she had woken up that morning let alone now—

But…but when she had taken up Kira's staff…she had been thinking of Yusuke; and how she wanted to become his guardian…to protect him…

She stared blankly down at the golden rod; before she had been willing for any change to come over her to become a guardian…

Would that have to happen now?—

Another bullet of light struck her in the leg and she collapsed once more. Her leg lay crippled beneath her, bleeding, as she continued to keep her death-grip on the staff; she wouldn't let go…if it meant starting over from the very beginning, she _couldn't _let go; she had come so far…of all times, she couldn't give up now.

Her knuckles turned white along the cool metal and she clenched her eyes shut. The wind roared in her ears and blew her hair around her fiercely as she refused to let go.

"Oh gods…" she whispered, "…I need to become Yusuke's guardian…"

Nothing happened.

Her fear mounted as she tried more earnestly, "I have to become stronger and protect him!!" she insisted as tears began to stream down her stricken face, "He needs me!!"

Still nothing…

Mai let out a strained sob and buried her face into the staff in her despair, "What can I do…?" she wept as her tears now began to trickle down the cool metal, "What can I do?!" she demanded angrily, "I need to help him!! I need to protect him against—!"

Toguro. A sudden vision of the demon swept through her mind from her memories. She went numb for a moment as his picture lingered before her vision…He would kill Yusuke…she couldn't let that happen—she just couldn't!! She had to be there to do something about it!!

"If I die now, I won't be able to protect him against Toguro!!" she sobbed and flung her head backwards to face the pinnacle of the whirlwind, "He needs me dammit!! And if that means I there has to be a change in me, I don't give a damn!" she yelled to the wind, "I just can't let him go on fighting alone!!"

The wind around her howled angrily and picked up at an even greater rate. The remaining bullets of energy rose higher into the air and suddenly began in a downward spiral towards the guardian. She winced, trying to endure the collision, but none came. Blinking, she looked up to find them all frozen in place around an invisible dome surrounding her.

And then, from Kira's staff came a brilliant flash of light and the girl threw up her arm to shield her eyes from the glow. When it had faded, she realized with a jolt that the golden rod was suddenly engulfed in an inferno of flames. But they neither scorched nor burned her flesh. The flames crackled up and along the staff noiselessly, but with such normality that the guardian could swear she could hear them nonetheless.

As she stared into the fire, she started in shock when a single figure appeared amidst the flames.

_I'll always be with you, Mai…_

Tears filled the guardian's eyes and trickled silently down her cheeks, shaking her head, "…Kira…"

The former guardian could just barely be made out in the roaring flames, but the apparition's hair remained a slightly redder hue than the rest of the flames and whipped around her shifting features.

"…_You could almost say that _you_ would be Kira…"_

Shakily, Mai's hand reached out towards the flames and the apparition desperately. But as the flames began to lick at her hand, the former guardian vanished as the fires suddenly spiraled up into a blazing column amidst the cyclone of wind. Spurts of flames emitted from the pillar of fire as the rest of the blaze charged towards the unseen heavens above them.

Rays of light suddenly began firing themselves from the blazing column and through the whirlwind…but the greatest ray of light come directly from Kira's staff. And as if drawn by a magnetic force, it suddenly engulfed the girl in its magnificent brilliance. At first, she trembled as she was suddenly blinded by the light…but she found that there was nothing she could do to resist it; her energy had already been spent.

Mai found herself suddenly useless against fighting it; and yet the energy that was now pulsating around her somehow found a way to keep her on her feet…even…even lift her off the ground it seemed…But as she looked to glance down at the earth, she realized with a start that she really was rising off the ground. She would not lose her grip on the staff, however and it too followed the guardian into the air.

The light formed a barrier around her for but a moment before another pulsation emitted from the golden rod. This time, Mai doubled over as she felt the pain arising in her once more. Now it felt as though her insides were being stretched beyond reason…she groaned painfully and then screamed, clutched desperately at the fabric of her shirt. It was almost as if she was being ripped apart from the inside out! Desperately, she gritted her teeth to endure the pain and clenched her eyes shut.

So she hung there, huddled in the air as she writhed from the fierce agony ripping through her.

"_Then hold on, Mai…hold on for just a little bit more…"_

"Hold on…" she gritted as tears of pain trickled down her face, "…yeah…I'll hold on…just a little while longer…"

Another pulsation resounded from Kira's staff and as if in slow motion, made contact with the guardian. Gently, it seemed to coax the girl to relax and suddenly she went limp…her legs dangled helplessly beneath her and her eyes stared up towards the peak of the whirlwind she was surrounded in.

Abruptly, the flames surrounding the golden rod burst forth with an added strength and suddenly began to entwine around Mai's arms and spread along the rest of her body. Soon, rings of the inferno were wrapped around her entire body as she lay there lifelessly. But then, the fires seemed to melt or vanish beneath the girl's flesh until not a single spark remained along the staff or her body.

Mai's eyes closed suddenly and it appeared as though the girl would not open them again. She sat hovering there in the air amidst the howling wind, her arms lying limp at her sides and her head facing the unseen sky above.

But as her body floated there, tiny speck of light drew themselves from out of the air around her. They stood frozen in time for but a moment before calmly enticed themselves towards the lifeless guardian where they disappeared within her flesh. More and more of these orbs of light appeared and continued to place themselves into the body lying before them.

In the air there was stillness, despite the howling cyclone…a stillness that caused the air to tremble slightly; it knew what was happening…

Then, it seemed as if the entire island would be lit up by the bright flash that followed. But trapped within the roaring whirlwind, it bounced back and forth between its walls creating an even brighter light. Mai's body slowly moved forward and suddenly jerked back again as a pair of forms appeared to be growing from her back. But as they unfolded to the light, snowy, downy feathers suddenly began to drift towards the earth as a pair of unearthly wings emerged from the guardian's body.

The wings along the girl's back then suddenly spread out to their fullest…reaching nearly seven feet on either side of her body, and then ripping through the cyclone. The whirlwind immediately dispersed into oblivion, setting the guardian free from its angry prison. Yet still the bullets of energy remained frozen in the air and as if brought back to life by the destruction of the whirlwind, they once more directed themselves back towards the girl.

This time when they collided with her, Mai no longer cried out in pain…nor did the bullets emerge on the other side of her body. Instead…instead the energy had nestled into the guardian's body for a final time.

A silence filled the restless air while a faint haze hovered still around the girl's body. But after that moment, the wings along her back softly rose and fell as they began to let the guardian descend towards the earth. And as her feet touched the ground, she almost immediately collapsed onto the earth in a stillness that could have been mistaken for death. Kira's staff rolled silently out of her hands into the grass a few inches away…

Genkai swiftly made her way towards her just as the wings along the girl's back deteriorated back into her body with a shimmer of light…

Only to be replaced by a pair of violet stripes stretching along either cheek…

The old woman knelt next to her quickly and rolled Mai onto her back, but still the guardian did not stir. Genkai grimaced when she noticed the bleeding wounds all along her body and swiftly raised her palms over the girl's abdomen as an orb of pale blue light appeared above her wounds.

It took nearly a minute before the girl let out a soft groan. Genkai removed her hands from above her and waited as Mai blinked slowly.

Her eyes stared off distantly into the now starry sky, when she noticed the elderly woman beside her and turned her head, smiling weakly, "How'd I do?" she asked in hardly more than a whisper, "Did it work…?"

She could have nearly sworn that she saw tears in the older woman's eyes, "Yeah, It worked, Mai…" she let out a short laugh, "But after awhile I admit I thought you had died in there…"

The guardian smiled and closed her eyes wearily, "I wasn't going to die, Master Genkai…" she murmured, "…Even though…even though there were times where I felt like I should…just to rid myself of the pain," a tear trickled down from the corner of her eye, "But I couldn't bring myself to…I…I couldn't bring myself to leave Yusuke alone…"

Genkai sighed and bowed her head, only to raise it again with a small grin, "You've done well tonight, Mai…"

The girl opened her eyes partially, "Does…that mean I can rest now, Genkai?"

She snorted softly, "Go ahead…you need it…"

Mai smiled towards the old woman and then for one final time closed her eyes in her weary slumber. Genkai shook her head slowly before withdrawing a cigarette from her pocket and lighting it. She puffed at it for a moment before glancing back down at the guardian.

"Damn this is going to be a long night…" she muttered to no one but herself…

-:-

a/n: …

Alrighty then, I think I'm just going to leave that at that I guess (damn, this thing is already 19 pages!!!) jeeze, but this took me awhile; don't expect another update till after the Holidays, though, gomen ne!!!

::nervous laugh:: yeah well, as I'm reading over this, a lot of the character seemed a little…well…_out_ of character this chapter… ::sigh:: oh well; I'm too tired to go over and fix it tonight

Once again, HAPPY HOLIDAYS EVERYONE!!

See ya next year!!


	15. Percentage of Victory

DISCLAIMER: I own none of this anime…unfortunately for kitkat ::sniffsniff::

a/n: uh…yeah sorry about all the angst and stuff in the last chapter que sera sera, but it had to be done eventually (though I have to admit there _will_ be more to come in the later chapters ::cowers from angry reviewers:: )

Hope you guys had a Happy Holiday!!—o shit, I still have to do my science project ::gulp:: dammit…o well, I guess I can always pull an Andrew (aka: fake the entire thing) but that's a little too risky for my prying teachers, isn't it?

Haha, but thanks to all my reviewers!!:

Umeko Saito: ::grabs box of tissues:: omgosh do you really mean it?? That has to be the nicest complement anyone has given me on this story!! ::sniff::

Sarah1281: LoL, I knew you'd like the dating tips!! (mwahahaha!! But Ryan can't read it, can he since he's still grounded!!) but to answer your question: yes Mai cares THAT much about Kira; she was practically her best friend and all…(but I won't get into much detail and stuff) but—no, I probably shouldn't say that here; I'll tell you later at school kk?

Demoness13: Thank you! I'm so glad you enjoyed, I hope you and your family had a wonderful Holiday break!!

TonyDemirasbedroomslave: You're welcome! Haha, though I'm not quite sure what you're thanking me for

Naoko Asakura 009: wow, LoL, you seem really excited about that part don't you? Ha, but don't worry; I'll be putting a lot of fluffiness in these chapters—no worries!!

Black Spell: haha, okay, okay…well here's my update for you! I hope you enjoy!

NOTE: well for punk101dess (if you're still reading) you should be happy with this chapter; for once I'm actually changing what happened in the episode!! HURRAY FOR ME!! LoL, I just hope you guys understand/enjoy this change!

PS: sorry if the beginning is a little choppy…

_Thoughts/Flashback_

_Fire Angel_ (well I hope everyone understands the title now :-)

::A Percentage of Victory::

Kazuma suddenly woke up with a start and immediately sat straight up. He shook his head and rubbed the bridge of his nose carefully. _Stupid nightmare…_he grumbled mentally to himself as he tossed his legs over the side of the couch…but he just couldn't help that it held something of importance...The redhead froze when he caught sight of Urameshi sitting nearby munching on a basket of croissants.

The spirit detective grinned, "What's the matter with you?" he asked as he swallowed his mouthful and took another of the pastries from the basket in front of him.

"Just a nightmare…" Kuwabara mumbled and placed his elbows on his knees.

Yusuke snickered, "Aw…did wittle Kazuma have a bad dweam?" he asked in a childish voice and watched as the redhead flushed angrily.

"Don't make fun of me, Urameshi!!" he warned and shook his fist in the detective's face. But he soon paused and glanced around the room, "…Where is everyone anyway…?"

He shrugged, "Dunno…but I doubt that Kurama and Hiei would leave us on our own with a match later on…" his expression suddenly darkened as he glanced towards the balcony, "But I haven't seen Mai or the masked fighter at all since yesterday…" he said almost in a worried tone.

Kuwabara frowned, "She wasn't in her room last night?" he asked, "Maybe she went up to Keiko, Shizuru, and Botan's room?"

Urameshi shook his head, "Kurama and I checked both, but neither of the girls had seen her since the match let alone yesterday…and her bed was still made from the other morning…"

"So…" Kazuma pondered, "Does that mean she and the masked fighter ran off somewhere?"

The detective gave him a small shrug, "I'm not sure…but if they don't turn up soon, we're as good as dead for the next match…"

-:-

Genkai watched in fascination as the girl already began to stir from her sleep. _Good timing too…_the old woman decided as she glanced up towards the sun while it began to reach the center of the sky.

The guardian shifted slightly from her slumber and blinked a few times before she rolled over onto her back, staring into the clear blue sky. For the first time, the woman suddenly noticed the violet stripes painted along both cheeks, and how pointed the girl's ears had become.

It took only a moment before Mai turned her eyes on Genkai and let a weary smile form along her lips, "Hey, I'm actually alive…" she laughed softly, "I thought that part had just been a dream…"

She chuckled and shook her head, "Afraid not...surprising though, how quickly you were able to recover from last night…"

The girl let out a small laugh, "Ah…well that's not necessarily true," she admitted, "I'm still a bit weak; I just sorta forced myself to wake up…"

"At least you're not dead, Mai; be grateful for that…" she bent down and picked up a bag that had been at her side, "Here," she said and tossed it to her, "You might want to change out of those clothes you have on now; someone may suspect something if you enter the stadium battered up like that—" she stopped and snorted, "But even that may not help…"

Mai frowned, "What do you mean…?"

"I mean," Genkai replied, "You're spirit energy hardly has any traces of human energy remaining…it's not that hard to sense, and there'll surely be those who will be able to detect something different about you…" she watched her sternly, "Promise me you'll hide your energy for the time being?"

The guardian nodded and glanced down into the bag, but said nothing. After a moment she let a small smile grow on her lips as she glanced back up towards the elder woman, "…Last night, when I thought I was going to die…I…I saw Yusuke standing in there with me…" she told her absently as if the thought had just occurred to her, "I knew he wasn't real…but…but I felt him; he held out his hand and I felt it with my own…it gave me strength, Master Genkai, to hear him speaking to me…"

The older woman folded her arms slowly, "I'm not surprised…you're mind must have found a way to create his image as a way of defense…"

She nodded and laughed softly, "That's what I figured…What he said was a little too sentimental to be real…"

Genkai snorted in amusement with a small grin forming at the corners of her mouth, "Come on, Mai…" she said and gestured to the girl, "We're running out of time; hurry up and change…"

Mai nodded briskly and took up the bag, scurrying behind one of the nearby trees. There was a little bit of rustling as she shifted through the bag and then a pause. The guardian peered around the trunk of the tree and opened her mouth to speak, but closed it with the shaking of her head.

As she disappeared behind the tree once more, she leaned wearily up against its base and stared down at the bag in her hands and then at her fingertips…she didn't feel much different, but she knew what Genkai had said was right; she could hardly sense any of her human energy now—

The guardian clenched her fists gently as a sudden sense of fear swept through her; what were the others going to say when they realized that…

That she had turned into a demon…?

-:-

"Yusuke!! Kuwabara!!"

The two fighters turned to see Mai jogging towards them with the masked fighter followed steadily behind her. Urameshi sighed with relief; at least she was safe… (And they had two of their teammates for the next fight). He and Kazuma stopped and the detective took a few steps to meet the guardian as she hurried down the hall.

Urameshi shoved his hands in his pockets and watched the girl carefully. He cocked an eyebrow questioningly when he noticed the violet stripes along either side of her face, "What are these?" he inquired pointedly and took his finger and poked her cheek.

She scoffed and teasingly slapped his hand away, "Nothing," she lied and looked past him towards Kuwabara and the empty hallway, "Where's Kurama and Hiei?"

"We don't know," Kazuma answered her, "They didn't show up…"

"Speaking of not showing up…" the detective continued and peered inquisitively down at her, "Where the hell have _you_ been?"

Mai almost thought she saw a hint of anger in his eyes, but it was soon gone and replaced with a glimmer of worry. The guardian met his gaze defensively, but didn't give him an answer. To Urameshi, it must have been a good enough response for him and he shrugged, turning back around towards the other end of the hallway.

"At least the good news is that it won't just be me and Kuwabara fighting this match…" he said coolly as he started walking back down the corridor. He didn't get far, however before he noticed someone standing before him.

The guardian stepped next to him and cocked her head up questioningly at the tall, brown-haired male, "…Koenma-dono?" she inquired as she stared up at the letters "Jr." tattooed on his forehead.

Yusuke frowned up at the demigod; studying him carefully. Then, despite himself, he tried to conceal his fits of laughter…but failed horribly. As the detective began to double over from his laughing fit, Kuwabara soon joined in and Mai looked up at the "toddler" with a cocked eyebrow.

"Well this is different…" she mused as she observed him, "…I don't think you've ever been in this form before…"

Koenma couldn't help but grin proudly, "Well it helps when I'm out in public and all…it's not too much is it?"

The girl smiled, "It's different, that's for sure."

Urameshi—still trying to choke down his laughter—stood and placed his hand on Mai's shoulder to keep him from falling over again from his amusement, "…Haha…okay, okay…so—haha—what's up, Koenma?"

Quick to regain his composure, the demigod coughed and turned to the detective, "Because, Yusuke…" he said suddenly becoming stern, "You're Spirit Beast is about to hatch."

Yusuke stopped in his laughter and frowned, scratching his chin, "Nani? What the hell are you talking about?"

Koenma rolled his eyes, "The spirit egg you were given a few months ago, Yusuke…" he told him as if hoping this would spark some memory, but the detective still looked confused, "You sacrificed it to save Keiko, remember? You threw it into the fire to help her get out of the house?"

The detective snapped his fingers, "Oh, right!" his brow furrowed once more, "But… why the hell do you still have it? I thought it was destroyed…"

The demigod shook his head, "No, it survived," he stated matter-of-factly, "And for the past few months its been feeding off of your spirit energy; it's becoming strong enough that it's just about ready to hatch…I believe the Spirit Wave technique should be enough—"

"I didn't learn it." Urameshi told him casually, looking to Mai for confirmation and the girl nodded slowly. Koenma looked between the two with a confused expression and he cocked his eyebrow.

"You…didn't learn it?" he repeated slowly and carefully, "What were you doing for the past three months?!"

-:-

Hiei cursed profusely in his anger and clutched his right hand to his chest while he gritted his teeth. His katana sat along the ground a foot or so away from him. The apparition glared at it furiously and suddenly reached out to grasp it once more, but no sooner had he done so than he buckled over from the pain racing through his arm.

"Fuck…" he growled and cursed his immobilized limb. Grumbling darkly to himself, he looked down at his remaining arm and took hold of the hilt of his sword. He frowned at the awkwardness of the gripping and then glanced back towards his right hand.

He was nearly tempted to try once more to hold onto the katana with his injured hand, but a second presence interrupted his thoughts.

"Dammit what do you want, fox?" he ordered as he inclined his head towards the red-haired teen behind him.

Kurama placed his hands in his pockets casually, "You shouldn't injure yourself anymore than you already are, Hiei…" he stated coolly, "Without your dominant hand you're already at a disadvantage for another match…"

"Don't you think I already know that?" the apparition snapped as he slid his sword into the sheath along his back. He stared heatedly down at the ground, "But if I don't keep fighting Toguro will kill this entire team."

A small grin formed at the corners of the redhead's mouth, "I didn't know you cared so much about us, Hiei."

He growled darkly, "I don't give a damn about this team," insisted angrily, "but _I _would prefer to make it out of this tournament alive, and if the rest of you idiots die then I don't really feel up to taking on the rest of the fights by myself—"

Suddenly, the apparition's eyes darted quickly towards the nearby bushes and Kurama did the same as the leaves began to rustle omnisciently. The odd duo stood tensely as a pair of demons emerged from behind the foliage. Both of the strangers appeared to be some sort of leopard demons (a/n: hell, I don't know what to call em…) with spots along their bodies and a tail swishing behind them.

Kurama and Hiei narrowed their eyes distastefully while these intruders folded their arms coolly.

-:-

Once more the members of the Urameshi team (those who were there at least) found themselves in the midst of the chanting hoards of demons as they stood on the tiled ring. Mai was getting really tired of hearing them shouting "Kill Yusuke" over and over again for the past ten minutes while they had been waiting for Kurama and Hiei to join them in the fight.

The guardian glanced behind her towards the entryway they had come through but still there were no signs of either team member.

Across from them, the three fighters of Team Ichigaki and Doctor Ichigaki himself stood calmly, also waiting for their remaining teammates to show up. She watched the trio curiously; they were human, that much she could sense, but there was definitely something different about them…she could just see it in their eyes. They stood erect, like statues…and the last time she had checked, humans did not usually side with demons willingly…

Furrowing her brow, she glanced back at her three teammates. Master Genkai seemed oddly calm beneath her mask while Yusuke was almost itching to start fighting again. Kuwabara on the other hand would not avert his gaze from their opponents and his eyes seemed to hold traces of surprise and confusion. Mai looked up at him and carefully placed a hand on his arm.

"Kazuma—?" she inquired curiously, but cut herself off when her sight was suddenly blurred and replaced with some sort of vision—

_A room with a single bed and about eight or so people kneeling around it stood before her. Tears filled the eyes of all of those surrounding the bed, and every once in awhile, one could hear the quiet sobbing coming from them as well. An older man lay beneath the bed sheets and gazed wearily around the room._

"_Please, Master Mitamura…" a pupil with bright red hair whispered to the man, "Please you have to get better!"_

_The master smiled sadly, "Do not cry…" he said to all of those around him, "You all have learned so much; you don't need an old fool like me anymore…" he added with a weak laugh._

_Each of the students glanced solemnly at one another. What were they to do? They all though despondently; they had no means of money to find let alone buy the cure for their master's disease so they were left helpless to watch him die…._

"_It's out of your control…please don't worry about me…" Mitamura's voice faded as he quietly closed his eyes out of his weariness._

"_But we have to help him!" another one of the pupils protested; quickly glancing to his neighbor, a younger soul with brown hair. The one who had spoken was older by the looks of it—and taller too—with broad features and black hair, "We can't just let him die!" _

_A grave murmur swept through the room as they watched their master lie there in his slumber. _

"_If I may…" came a calm voice, "…I might be able to help…"_

_The group of students turned to find a dwarfed man—or demon in this case—standing in the doorway. His face was stretched slightly and pointed ears protruded from either side of his head. The demon's eyes seemed squashed within the folds of the skin along his face, but a toothed grin was still visible._

"_Excuse me for intruding, my name is Doctor Ichigaki," he continued, "…I can cure your master…but at a price…"_

"_Please!" it was the red-haired boy again, "Please, we don't have any money—"_

_The doctor held up his hand, "It's not money I'm looking for…" what appeared to be a sly grin suddenly crept along his face, "Supply me with three of your fighters for an experiment of mine…and I shall cure your master…"_

Mai withdrew her hand suddenly and glanced up at Kuwabara. The redhead still did not take his eyes off of the three fighters in front of them.

"You saw it too?" he asked.

She nodded, "Yeah…but…was that some sort of dream of yours?" she inquired confusedly and too glanced across the ring at the Ichigaki team. She recognized all of them from what she had just seen…did that mean it was all real?"

Kazuma slowly placed his hands in his pockets and nodded as well, "This morning…" he answered quietly.

The guardian eyed the shorter demon warily with his smug look on his face that seemed to sicken her, "It was real, then, don't you think?"

"Yeah…I would bet my life on it—"

He was suddenly cut off as Koto raised the microphone to her mouth, "Time's up!!" she announced, "Those team members present are the only ones eligible to fight this upcoming match!! Team leaders please approach the center of the ring!"

Both Yusuke and Doctor Ichigaki moved forward until they were level with one another. The spirit detective towered over the doctor as he slowly folded his arms over his chest.

Ichigaki glanced behind the boy at the rest of his team and smirked, "What do you say? Does a three-on-three match sound fair enough to you?"

Urameshi opened his mouth to reply but Mai quickly cut him off while she stood behind him.

"If I'm not mistaken…" she said as she folded her arms, "If you are the team leader, you have every right to fight as well…it would seem a bit more evenly matched if all four members on either team were to fight," her eyes remained suspiciously on Ichigaki; it was odd to her that he didn't even add himself to the roster of fighters…

The doctor's complexion paled considerably and sent a dangerous glare in the guardian's direction as he carefully took out the twisted calculator from his pocket. Discretely, he punched in a few numbers and glanced back down at the screen.

_95.9 chance…there's also a possibility of tying and going into sudden death…_ he noted mentally and let a devious grin begin to form. He didn't _have_ to fight…he glanced up at the three humans along side of him; yes, it just had to be four-on-four; they didn't specify who had to fight…

Slipping the calculator back into his coat pocket he calmly returned his gaze to the detective in front of him, "I have no objections…what say you, Urameshi?"

Yusuke glanced back towards Mai; for some reason he wasn't too keen on the idea of the guardian fighting a match alone…but he sighed nonetheless and nodded.

Ichigaki glanced back towards his team and grinned cunningly now with a calm feeling about him, "Do you know why I fight with humans?" he inquired casually and without waiting for an answer, he continued on, "It's because they can harness a greater spirit energy than even demons…it's their conscience that holds them back, however…" he added glancing up towards the Urameshi team.

Mai suddenly eyed the doctor distastefully as he gaze shifted between him and the three humans beside him. She didn't like the way he so calmly spoke as if his team members were just a matter of strength; pawns in a game of chess. Now she realized why Kuwabara had been so intent on that dream of his; he knew that there was something about Ichigaki that didn't make sense, and the guardian knew it now…

The doctor stared up at Urameshi with a hint of intrigue, "You're power is fascinating," he pondered interestingly, "Can I suggest a proposition for you then?" he then inquired as a sudden gleam of mistrust flashed across his beady eyes, "If my team wins, I get to keep your body…for…experimental reasons…"

"What?" the detective questioned incredulously as if the demon was insane (which, most likely, he was).

He smirked, "Or I would be just as happy to take the girl's body instead—" he added a little too quietly for the rest of their teammates to hear

Urameshi's eyes narrowed dangerously and swiftly, his hand lashed out and gripped the doctor by the collar.

"Yusuke!" Mai suddenly called out in alarm, but the detective paid her no head as he forced Ichigaki only a few inches away from his face. There was a fury burning in the detective's eyes as he glared dangerously at the demon.

"You lay one finger on her…" he growled darkly, "And I swear I'll hunt you down and make you wish you were dead…"

Ichigaki only continued to smirk in the Urameshi's anger, "So you'll agree then? I will take your body if you lose?"

The detective glared wrathfully down at the doctor before he released him, "Yeah," he muttered, and then raising his voice a little louder, he then added, "And if we win, I'll rip your face off."

"Then it's settled then?" Ichigaki mused just as the masked fighter stepped forward.

"One more rule…" they said and Mai stared down at her incredulously; she hadn't said a word to anyone but her this entire time! "I propose a battle royale…with all team members fighting in the ring at the same time."

Suddenly the doctor paled once more and he cursed mentally. Dammit, now they had him trapped; there was no way in hell he was going to be caught dead on that arena trying to battle it out. Unless…he once more took a glance up at the fighters beside him…unless their team was never able to get to him; if these fools would just protect him during the fight then he might make it out alive.

His gaze flickered towards the Urameshi team in interest; pausing on each one of them and then going back to that girl the detective seemed so protective about. He suddenly apprehended the fact that she was hardly giving off any spirit energy at all; hell she was probably giving off as much spirit energy as a normal human.

With a larger smirk, he withdrew his calculator once more and punched in a set of new numbers; the ability of his team all at once against theirs—not to mention the lacking energy of Urameshi's teammate.

There was a moment as the screen flickered and a percentage appeared. The doctor mustered up all he could to conceal his look of glee.

_Well what do you know…98.63....who would have though? Even when I'll be in the ring at the same time!_

Glancing back up towards the masked fighter and then to Urameshi, he continued to force down his delight and keep a straight face, "Very well…" he said calmly, "A battle royale it is…"

He smirked; after all…there was hardly a glimmer of a chance of team Urameshi winning, wasn't there?

-:-

a/n: dammit, that was a short chapter, sorry guys…but I'm tired, and I know if I continue through the rest of the episode it will be super long, and I'm not sure if I'll get it done before I have to get back to school…

so…yeah…gomen ne, que sera sera everyone…

but I'll try and get the rest of this match up in a jiffy (shit, I still have to do my science fair project…dammit…)


	16. A Glimpse Beneath the Mask

DISCLAIMER: ::sigh:: it's the same as the past fifteen chapters (not to mention the thirteen from Fire Dancer :-)

a/n: okay, well the good news is, I have the majority of my science project done (the next part I have to do outside and it's too cold right now) so I'm just going to get started on this chapter HURRAY!! (even though I'm surprised I'm this hyper since I stayed up until 1:00 am last night reading _The Purple Emperor_ ( (SQL to Faerie Wars) good books!! Trust me!!) LoL, but please forgive me for using "glanced" a whole lot in the last chapter ::nervous laugh:: I kinda noticed I did that after I wrote it…

haha, well thanks to all my reviewers!!

Sarah1281: Yay!! Congratulations; I'm glad you were able to read all of the Fruits Basket manga! (wasn't the first half of the sixth volume sad?? I swear I nearly cried!) But I'm sorry you're science project got moldy (what were you doing for yours anyway?) haha, but yeah; the doctor is in for a major surprise (mwahahahaha!!)

Sk8tergirl69: omgosh! Oh, man, I'm sooooo sorry I haven't been able to read the chapters in your story! I've just been really busy with xmas and all and my friend from D.C. has just come over for a visit and I haven't seen her for like a year…but I promise I will as soon as I can!!

Naoko Asakura 009: okay, okay!! Here's your update!

NOTE: I know this seems random to all of you, but if you guys are ever bored or anything like that, I suggest heading over to ; membership is free and the music videos are awesome (their fanmade and stuff…)

YET ANOTHER NOTE: okay, well just for reference, M1 I believe is the redhead, M2 is the guy with black hair, and M3 is the one with brown hair (but I'm not sure) but even if they are wrong, that's how I'm going by…just to let you all know.

_Thoughts_

_Fire Angel_

::A Glimpse Beneath the Mask::

_That stupid conniving wench…_the doctor growled darkly to himself mentally. His beady eyes narrowed towards the crimson haired girl standingbeside Urameshi. Dammit, it was _her_ fault he had been dragged into this fight…if she had just kept her mouth shut, he would be standing safely along the edges of the ring.

He snarled quietly; well…she would come to learn that she made the biggest mistake by even suggesting a four-on-four battle. Ichigaki smirked; he couldn't wait to see her writhing in agony when M1, 2, and 3 got through with her and the rest of that damn team. The doctor's eyes narrowed again…then again, part of the reason he was dragged into this was because of that masked fighter…dammit he didn't like how they were so quiet and calm…

Ichigaki fiddled his fingers nervously…but then paused and felt his pocket. Another smirk curled along his crooked jaw; hell, if worst came to worst there would always be the option of the syringe…He shuddered, but then again, the effects still hadn't been successfully tested all the way…

Mai noticed the doctor watching her venomously from across the ring, but truthfully, she didn't care. She had seen what Kazuma had in his dream; Ichigaki was a worthless fool; using others as a shield like his own little puppets…it made her sick. He deserved to fight with these humans he had manipulated, and if Kuwabara didn't finish the doctor off, she sure as hell would.

_Ichigaki underestimates you…_

The guardian jerked and looked down at the masked fighter standing next to her. She hated it when Genkai tried to talk to her mentally…it gave her a major migraine…not to mention it felt like a bunch of ants crawling around beneath her skull.

_He does?_ She returned and turned her gaze back towards the dwarfed demon.

Beneath her mask, Genkai smiled slightly, _He thinks you have the spirit energy of a normal human; he can't sense your power…_her golden brown eyes flashed up towards the guardian, _good job…_

She was about to ask 'For what?' but then realized that she meant her masking her energy. Mai shifted restlessly. Honestly, she wished she didn't have to cover up her energy; in comparison, it felt sort of like when your pants would get bunched up in the wrong places…in other words; it was uncomfortable.

But before the guardian could respond to her, Koto stepped back towards the center of the ring and held up the microphone, "Then it's settled! This match will be a four-on-four battle royale between Team Urameshi and Team Ichigaki!" she gestured grandly towards the two sets of teams, "Fighter, please step up to the ring!"

They all did as they were told and just as they came to a halt, Yusuke casually nudged Mai in the arm, "You okay?" he asked without taking his eyes off of his opponents.

The girl shrugged and nodded, "Actually, I'm excited that I'll actually be fighting this match…" her midnight blue eyes flickered up towards him and then back towards the opposite team where she noticed that Ichigaki was cowering behind his fighters, "What about you?"

He shrugged as well, "Fine…just so long as I don't have to save your ass again."

Mai glanced up at him again to find a small grin forming at the corners of his mouth. She watched him for a moment before answering seriously, "Really, Yusuke…" she said a little quietly, "You don't have to worry about me…I'll be fine…"

"Fighters ready?!" Koto called and then raised her hand above her head, "Then let the second match of the Dark Tournament begin!!"

What happened next went by almost too quickly for Mai to comprehend what was going on, but not a moment after Koto finished speaking than, the fighters of Team Ichigaki launched themselves at them. The fighter to the left—a taller, well-built man with brown hair—raised his hand as if it were a claw and prepared to slash out towards the Urameshi team.

Just before he could make contact with any of them, however, each teammate leapt out of the way of the attack. As all four of them were in the air, M3's attack smashed into the arena creating a giant crater beneath his fist.

Rubble was flung into the air around them and a billow of dust formed within the crater. Mai and the masked fighter landed along one side of the blast while Yusuke and Kuwabara were beginning to land opposite of them. The guardian felt her pulse racing from that little scare and drew in a sharp breath from the air around her. Genkai had touched-down nimbly even with her hands folded calmly behind her.

Quickly, she returned her attention back to the two boys beginning to fall back towards the earth. But suddenly, Mai felt her heart catching in her throat when she noticed the second of the taller males leaping into the air after them. His hands were positioned as if he held a staff or something of the sort (she recognized the stance from her own experiences) and yet there was nothing in them.

In her alarm, her fingers suddenly tightened around her own staff and—without really thinking—she drew back her arm as if readying herself to throw a javelin. Then, using her blind fear to guide her hand, she found herself throwing Kira's staff across the arena towards M2 before he could reach Yusuke and Kazuma.

But as the rod was flying through the air, the guardian noticed the attacker's eyes flash towards the oncoming threat. And just as he was ready to thrust his invisible weapon at the two boys, he pivoted and switched his attention to the staff flying at him. He swung outwards towards it and suddenly sent the rod plummeting back towards its owner.

Deftly, the guardian jumped upwards slightly and caught the staff in her hand once more. A moment later, both Urameshi and Kuwabara landed opposite of them looking only a little bit shaken. And yet even before their team could regroup, the redhead of their three opponents stepped forward for his own attack.

Four rings wrapped themselves around either of his arms as he raised them above his head. And as he held them there, the Urameshi team realized with a horror that they were growing larger with each passing moment.

From deep within his throat—as if forcing himself to say it—M1 muttered as he threw his arms downwards, "Angel Blades…"

Mai stood frozen with a mix of shock and awe coursing through her as a pair of the rings launched themselves at each of her teammates, including herself. Both Yusuke and Kuwabara looked just as awe-stricken as herself before they suddenly jerked out of their stupor and attempted to dodge the blades. But it appeared as though the attack acted like a homing device and nearly trailed after the two boys.

But what she found that had caught her attention was not the attack itself, but the way M1 had said it. Even though she had no idea what the boy normally sounded like, or anything about him as a matter of fact, she could tell by the strain in his voice. It was as if he was almost trying to resist even calling out the words—

"Mai!!"

The guardian jumped as she heard Genkai's voice bark at her and realized with a start that the Angel blades M1 had called upon were still charging directly towards her. She even heard Yusuke call out her name as well after he had been able to avoid his part of the attack while Kazuma had not been so lucky and was recovering from his blow.

She suddenly felt someone clasp onto her wrist and jerk her out of the way of the oncoming threat. As she felt herself being pulled through the air, she heard the collision of M1's attack and the arena floor make contact and the angry roars of the demons in the stands. Not a moment later, she was tumbling over herself and rolling out of the way of the falling debris. The guardian remained stunned for but a moment before she blinked and raised her head towards her protector.

"Master G—"

"Like I said before, Mai…" the woman said quietly from beneath the folds of her mask. For the first time, the girl noticed that something was different with Genkai's voice… "You can't be careless in a match like this; your enemy could be at your throat at any given moment…"

Mai stared back at her three opponents silently before turned towards the masked fighter, "They're just human, though… I…they're under the control of Ichigaki; they're not really trying to hurt us…I don't think I can fight them in return; it wouldn't seem right…"

Genkai shook her head, "No…Mitamura's pupils were taught the importance of good character over fighting…" she glanced down at the guardian and noticed her surprise, "I knew these boys…and I knew their master too; they would never kill another human being—"

"Are you guys alright?!" Yusuke called to the two of them. He and Kuwabara had been separated by a great deal after the firing of the Angel Blades and now stood on either end of the ring. Where Kazuma was, he was already trying to summon his spirit sword…

But to his horror and his teammates', it would not appear.

A flash of fear crossed over Kuwabara's features as he tried again and again to draw the energy-based weapon.

"Aw crap!" he shouted in his frustration and shook his fist like he was trying to shake out the spirit energy inside.

But as he was struggling over his malfunctioning weapon, the rest of the team noticed with a terror that M3 was already beginning to charge towards the helpless redhead. Kazuma noticed a little too late that the fighter was racing after him and with a jolt began running around the ring as if he could get away.

"Kuwabara!!!" Yusuke roared and in his own attempt to rescue his friend, raised his hands in the position of his Spirit Gun towards the attacking foe. The guardian saw his face freeze in a look of horror before it turned to a look of frustration.

Just then, M3 crouched low to the earth and suddenly propelled himself into the air above Kazuma. The redhead could only watch in terror as his attacker started to plummet towards him.

"Dammit!" the detective bellowed, "Screw this!!" and he began to charge after the human trying to take down Kuwabara. Mai could tell even from where she watched that he would not make it to him in time. And in her own concern from Kazuma's safety, she leapt quickly to her feet and began running towards him as well.

But before she had even taken two steps, she saw a glimpse of someone zip past her. The guardian froze and glanced upwards to find the masked fighter already jumping into the air. And as M3 was starting to come down upon Kuwabara, Genkai smashed her foot into the man's jaw; sending him off-course from the redhead and flying towards the opposite side of the ring.

Mai swiftly came to a halt and blinked in surprise; in retrospect, she would have thought the old woman would have left Kazuma to try and learn how to fight out an attack like that. But nonetheless, Genkai had jumped in (almost literally) to save the redhead.

The elderly woman turned to both the boys, her golden brown eyes flashing between the two and said gravely, "Neither of you are able to sense your spirit energy…because you cannot comprehend it…I suggest you learn how to in the very near future."

-:-

Either pair of demons glared at one another vituperatively from their respective edges of the clearing. They appeared locked in a staring contest almost, had it not been for the seriousness of the situation they might have been. Kurama's emerald eyes narrowed suspiciously as he observed the two intruders carefully; for some odd reason, they seemed familiar to him…

Then it clicked within his mind. He had seen them the other day along the sidelines during one of the matches. They were from that Doctor Ichigaki; one of his filthy experiments like he had seen in the other three fighters—humans it had appeared by the looks of it.

The redhead furrowed his brow; but if these two were from Ichigaki's team why weren't they already at the stadium?

But before he could decipher this riddle, one of the demons had already begun to charge towards himself and Hiei. There was a smirk in the opponent's eyes as he swiftly began to approach. Hiei reached around his shoulder to the hilt of his katana and eyed the demon distastefully as Kurama reached beneath his hair and withdrew the vine of his Rose Whip.

Any normal human wouldn't have seen either the redhead or the apparition moving, but suddenly the pair had found away to the opposite side of their enemy; both landing with a fighter's grace. Behind them, the demon stood froze for a moment, in pure immobilization before his body unexpectedly broke apart and crumpled to the earth.

Casually, Kurama and Hiei stood and glanced back to admire their handiwork, before the returned their gaze to the remaining foe.

Ichigaki's experiment took a step back out of fear and his eyes flickered between the two fighters and then to his fallen companion. Neither the redhead nor the apparition said anything to his silence but stared him down with their cold glares.

It only took a moment for the demon to recover however, and a cunning smirk curled along his jaw and his golden eyes narrowed maliciously. He took his hand and fished for something in his pocket prior to withdrawing a single remote and holding it up to show the pair. Both Kurama and Hiei eyed it warily just as the demon casually punched the center button with his thumb.

Suddenly, there was a deep rumbling from the trees beyond the stranger and despite the surprised and almost fearful glances of the redhead and the apparition, the demon remained utterly calm.

Then, they could see movement in the foliage just as they noticed a new foe arising from beyond the shadows. It looked almost mechanical, and yet there appeared to be flesh between the plates of armor it wore. Razor-like claws protruded from its fists and looked as though they might be able to slice directly through titanium. This new monster stood over twice the height of the original demon and watched the pair with what appeared to be a large, red eye.

Smugly, the demon folded his arms and glanced up towards his supposed friend and then back at Hiei and Kurama, "The Gatasubul…" he stated coolly, "…Is part human and part mechanic; made up of the strongest metal found on earth, yet combined with living cells. It also does not feel pain; making it indestructible…" his cold yellow eyes glinted with something resembling malice as he pressed yet another button on the controller.

Without warning, the Gatasubul's arm lashed out at Hiei and Kurama like a whip and the duo immediately dodged out of its path as its fist smashed into the tree behind them. Hiei landed on the grass nimbly and instantly gripped his sword in his hand and charged towards the machine with his swift agility. And with his katana raised above his head, he quickly brought it down along its body, just as quickly, however, the blade bounced back without even making a scratch.

Kurama followed the apparition's lead and dashed around the other side of the monstrosity to where he let his whip slash out at one of the flesh-like areas open to his attack. But to the same outcome as Hiei, there was no harm done to the Gatasubul and his weapon merely returned to his hand.

"Dammit," Hiei growled darkly and his eyes shifted quickly towards the demon holding the remote, "If we can't break it…we'll merely break the thing controlling it…" and before the redhead could yell sense into his stubborn skull, the apparition disappeared from sight and reappeared directly above the demon with his katana raised high over his head.

But even before he could bring down his sword over his foe, the Gatasubul's arm suddenly whipped out from no where and caught the demon by surprise. In no more than a fraction of a second, the claw had pinned him to the tree waiting behind him. He grunted painfully as the machine kept him just hanging there.

The apparition glared venomously at the robot just as his eyes flickered down to his left hand where he raised it slowly so it was level with his shoulder. Hell, if his weapon couldn't break through the damn thing, maybe the Dragon would.

In his hand, a sparking, purple orb appeared and began to grow with each passing moment. Kurama suddenly realized what the apparition was doing and cried out in alarm.

"Hiei, don't!!" he cried out to his teammate and glanced around hurriedly for another means of releasing the apparition from the Gatasubul's claws. And partially angry from his friend's stupid decision, he suddenly jumped in front of the giant machine and glared at it darkly; as if daring it to try and kill him.

The free arm of the Gatasubul whipped at the redhead furiously, but Kurama dodged the blow with ease and as the claw dug into the earth, he landed casually on top of it. He could tell there was something resembling anger in the robot's giant eye as—to the redhead's satisfaction—it took the claw pinning Hiei to the tree and struck at him in a second attempt. This time however, when he jumped out of the way, the arm followed with a spiteful fury as if determined to bring him down.

Hiei, on the other hand, touched down adroitly once the armored hand had released him, but could only watch as both of the Gatasubul's claws went flying after Kurama. The redhead skillfully ducked and dodged each of the blows and leapt about and around the machine almost as though he was taunting it. And as he did so, the apparition noticed with a clever smirk that whenever the monster's arm would miss Kurama, it would—as a result—accidentally cause itself little damage.

In but a moment, the redhead had landed back on the earth, but froze suddenly when he realized the two claws had caught up to his agility and were now charging dead-on towards him. There was a brief flash of light just before the two arms collided and a cloud of dust was sent billowing into the air followed by a deathly still silence.

A moment passed before the residue slowly began to settle and disappear back into the air. And in that moment, it was apparent that Kurama had not perished beneath the attack, nor had he been injured in the very least. Hiei folded his arms over his chest and let a smirk form along his face as he turned to glance at the horror-stricken demon still clutching onto the remote control.

In the redhead's hand, he still clutched onto the vine whip and as he stood, he calmly rolled it back into a small loop he held with his fist.

His dark expression that he gave to his opponent was almost enough to strike fear into the earth itself, "The Gatasubul cracked itself open…" he stated as he briefly glanced back towards the machine that now stood stationary in the clearing. The fire-apparition nearby then noticed that Kurama's whip had extracted itself from within the robot where it had no doubt done away with the beast itself, "…And pain itself is no weakness…" he continued without letting his eyes leave the demon, "It allows you to know which weaknesses you must protect…"

-:-

Mai felt her neck jerk to the side as M3's fist collided with the side of her face. And in less than a fraction of a second, she found herself tumbling over the tile flooring towards the edge of the ring. There was blood beginning to fill her mouth and she irritably coughed it up on the ground in front of her.

With a start she suddenly detected a shadow swiftly moving over her, and on instinct, her hand gripped tightly onto Kira's staff. She whirled onto her back just in time to prevent the next blow from M3 as his hand began to glow a dull red color. Both her staff and his fist collided causing a dull ringing to resound from the golden rod.

The guardian stared back up into the fighter's face which remained completely emotionless—all save for the constant fury burning in his eyes as well as his other teammates. It was at this time that she sighted (for what seemed like the first time) the blood-red veins protruding from either of his shoulders and connecting to the giant mass along his back. Her brow furrowed, what the hell was that?!

A raspy voice directed her away from the organism and back to M3, "…Kill…" he growled in his hoarse voice as she suddenly felt him pushing harder onto her staff.

It was at times like these where she dearly wished she could use her spirit energy—not to mention it was so damn uncomfortable to hide it! But it was also in times like these where she was grateful that Genkai had spent an equal amount of time building on her physical strength as well…

"Sorry…" she grunted, "…But I'm not dying today."

With a sudden kick, Mai kneed him in the groan. Experiment or not, she knew that on all men, that had to hurt like hell. And even though it didn't appear as though M3 was as fazed as she though he would be, the guardian took his pause and roughly struck him along the side of his skull with the butt of her staff. He slid a few feet away from her and she quickly leapt over him in an attempt to reunite with her companions.

She paused briefly when she noticed that neither of them was in too much better shape then she was. On one end of the ring, Master Genkai was doing some major back-flipping to avoid M1's Angel Blades as they continued to dive constantly at her. Yusuke and Kuwabara on the other hand were trying their luck with M2, but like the rest of them, weren't doing so good—

Both of the boys suddenly cried out as the fighter's invisible weapon smashed into them, causing the duo to be flung back by the unseen force and roll along the arena floor. And before M3 could try and attack her again, she dashed over to the side of her teammates.

"Are you guys alright?!" she cried out as she skidded to a halt just before she reached them.

"Do we look alright to you?" the detective grumbled as he shakily got to his feet. There were dark bruises beginning to form along his arms, and already his shirt was beginning to deteriorate with each blow he took. As she glanced down at Kazuma, she realized that he wasn't doing too well either…maybe worse than Urameshi. The corner of his lip had started to bleed and already a bruise was starting to appear beneath his eye; he even looked as though he was having a whole lot of trouble just trying to stand.

Mai frowned worriedly and glanced between the two, "You guys haven't been able to avoid any of the attacks by M2 or 3…are you sure you're alright?"

The detective sent her a frustrated glare, "What the hell are you talking about?! Don't tell me _you_ can see them!?"

She blinked in surprise, "You…You can't?" suddenly she felt the blood drain from her. If they couldn't even see their attacks, then how were they supposed to defend themselves against this team? She glanced back between the two of them; they hadn't been able to contact their spirit energy the entire match…it was just as Genkai had said; they couldn't sense it because they couldn't comprehend it.

…That was going to suck—

Kuwabara's eyes suddenly flickered towards the sky and grew wide with a mix of surprise and fear, "Watch out!!" he roared and swiftly started to dive out of the way.

Mai, with her back facing the oncoming attack, had no time to turn around before she felt Yusuke wrap his arms tightly around her waist and throw her backwards along with himself as M2 came back once more and attempted another attack on them. The guardian covered her head to try and endure the impact of the ground as Urameshi kept his arms protectively around her until they were tumbling along the tiled ring. On collision, Yusuke had released her slightly and let her roll a little ways away from him.

There was a pause afterwards as they absorbed the shock and—panting rather heavily, Mai lifted herself slowly to her knees and stared down at the detective. After a moment, he too raised himself off of the ground and returned her gaze while a dim smile started to form.

"Dammit, didn't I tell you that I can't be saving you during this match…?" he asked as he drew in a deep breath from the air around him. Despite herself, the guardian also had to release a small grin out of her own carelessness—

Suddenly, a sharp pain raced from her neck down her spine as she unexpectedly found herself staring back up at the sky above the stadium. She lay there stunned for only a fraction of a moment before she felt a rough hand grip tightly onto the back of her head. The guardian blinked and swiftly found herself staring up into the cold gaze of M3. The weight of his body kept her pinned to the earth as he raised his bared hand dangerously close to her face.

"…Kill…"

Abruptly, the weight atop of her was lifted and she suddenly found herself free. As she quickly leapt back onto her feet she noticed that Yusuke had slammed himself into M3, sending both of the fighters onto the ground where they locked themselves in a fierce fist-brawl.

The detective caught his opponent's fists in his hands and strained to keep the human from trying to pummel him into the earth. Urameshi's eyes burned now with a fierce passion as he suddenly head-butted his forehead into M3's skull. The human toppled backwards for only a moment, and swiftly recovered by completing a somersault and ending back on his feet. Yusuke stood just as quickly and clenched his fists dangerously as his eyes flickered towards Mai.

"Dammit, don't just stand there!" he hissed, "Go after Ichigaki!!"

With a start, the guardian realized that she had almost completely forgotten about the doctor and her gaze shifted back towards where he calmly sat watching all four of them trying to fight against his creations. She swiftly turned back to Urameshi and with a quick nod of her head, dashed off towards where the doctor sat unguarded.

_These fools don't stand a chance…_Ichigaki mused to himself with a mirthful chuckle, _In only a few moments there will be nothing left of Team Urameshi—_

Quickly, the doctor's eyes flashed towards his right where a swift movement had caught his eye. A smirk twisted itself along his face when he recognized that little red-haired girl running at him. He laughed mentally; with her spirit energy so low, even _he_ could take her out…but why waste a good thing? He decided as he calmly flicked a button on the controller substituting for his calculator.

_Damn him…_Mai muttered mentally, _damn him and his cowardly schemes done to these humans…_She couldn't even stand to look at him and that smug look that was always plastered on his face. He cared nothing for the life of his teammates…it would have surprised her if he cared for anything at all….

Something in the back of her mind suddenly snapped when she noticed that Ichigaki was just watching her approaching him without looking the least bit worried. Gods, she knew her spirit energy was acting low, but was it so low that she seemed _that_ easily beaten—?

Mai suddenly let out a cry of pain as she collided once more with the tiled floor beneath hear. Her head stuck hard and as she came to rest, she felt a warm trickle of blood dripping between her hairline and onto the ring below. There was something pressing firmly at her throat and as she looked up, she now met the cold eyes of M2 as he forced the energy-based pole in his hands up to her neck.

Wriggling her arms free, she tried to push back against the man's staff, but he would not let up and forced it deeper and deeper towards her flesh.

Beside her, she could hear the soft tapping of Ichigaki's shoes as he calmly stepped next to her and her opponent. Soon she could see his face leering down at her as he watched her try and relieve the pressure around her throat.

"Pitiful…" he said icily, "I thought that maybe…just maybe since your spirit energy is hardly more than a child's…that you would at least have _some _physical stamina…"

The guardian gritted her teeth vengefully; gods it was becoming a bit too hard to hold back on her spirit powers right about now…

"…But for some reason I can't seem to comprehend…" he continued, "That Urameshi character seems to be a little bit protective about you, doesn't he?"

Her fists clenched dangerously around M2's pole, but she refused to look the doctor in the eye…no he didn't deserve it…all he deserved was to…

"Pity too that they won't be able to fight the next match when we win…" he stated as a cunning sneer forced its way onto his face, "Since Urameshi has decided to give up his body to me when you all lose, I'll be unstoppable with the powers his body possesses; I won't be in need of either M1, 2, or 3—"

That was it.

Mai's midnight blue orbs suddenly flashed with a furious blaze as her head whipped towards Ichigaki and she raised her palm towards his ugly face. She didn't care now if she was supposed to hide her energy; Yusuke and Kuwabara couldn't find their own, so it wasn't as if they could support the team by themselves. Besides, she couldn't stand that distorted smirk of his…all he deserved in this life was to

"Burn in hell!!!" the guardian screamed suddenly as the corners of her palm began to glow a pale pink color. Ichigaki's eyes grew wide with horror as he took a fearful step backwards from her attack, but even he knew he would not be able to avoid the blast once it let loose.

It was as if time had frozen while Mai's attack began to grow dangerously. But across the ring, the masked fighter's senses pricked suddenly and she whirled after trying to avoid the Angel Blades sent after her. There was—what appeared to be—fear that crossed Genkai's eyes as she detected the girl beneath M2 raising her palm towards Ichigaki, preparing to blow his face inwards.

_Dammit!_ The woman swore as she made a mad dash across the arena; avoiding the rest of the attacks M1 hurled at her. She should have known better, though, to ask her to keep her energy bottled up for this long; or at least that her emotions would have gotten the better of her…

Genkai cursed again; her short size definitely didn't improve her swiftness, and was probably the only thing holding her back right now. She was suddenly tempted to fire off an attack from where she was; but that might have been too risky; it was bad enough that Mai had already revealed her spirit powers…she couldn't do the same.

All she could do was trust to hope that she could make it in time—damn those powers of hers; that attack would let loose any second!

"Mai!!" the woman roared as if trying to prevent her from releasing her attack before she could get there, but the guardian didn't appear to hear her. With a swift glance around her, she determined that Yusuke or Kuwabara wouldn't be much help to her either; they were both on the opposite side of the ring and definitely too far away to do much good.

Her senses pricked warily as she became aware of movement behind her. With the swift incline of her head, she noticed M1 rapidly beginning to approach her and already calling up his next wave of Angel Blades. And as they were set upon her, she jumped into the air to avoid the attack, and also to aim herself at M2 who was pinning the guardian to the arena floor.

She felt her foot collide with his ribcage harshly and saw him ripped into the air away from Mai. M2 quickly smashed into the doctor standing not too far away from either of them. Ichigaki and the human rammed into the ground below as a result of Genkai's attack.

The guardian still lay on the arena in a bit of a stunned silence. Her palm was still raised upwards where she would have released the attack on the doctor, but now the pale, pink glow had resided back into her hand. Genkai noticed then that her eyes were still blazing furiously without removing them from the doctor who was now pinned to the earth by M2.

There was a moment where she merely sat there, before she slowly lifted herself off the ground and let her eyes wander carelessly to the woman beside her. An angry fire still burned in her blue orbs, but it had softened drastically when she noticed it was Genkai.

Mai watched her for a moment before bowing her head towards the earth, "…I-I'm sorry…I shouldn't have let my anger blind me like that…" she said quietly and glanced quickly back towards M2 and Ichigaki where the doctor's experiment was already beginning to stir, "I should have just held back a little longer—"

"There's nothing you can do about it now, Mai," the woman said quickly, "But try and be a bit more careful next time…" she sighed heavily, "I'm not asking you to mask your energy just for the sake of hiding it, but Yusuke and Kuwabara need to contact their own; and if you take out the entire team, they may not be able to find their energy."

The girl stared up at her for another moment longer before she nodded and stepped up to her feet slowly. Genkai eyed her carefully before she swiftly took her foot and struck the guardian in the leg.

She bit her lips to keep from crying out and glanced back towards her in wonder, "What the hell was that for?!"

Genkai shrugged, "Just wanted to make sure you weren't going all numb on us…" and from beneath her mask, the guardian detective a small grin beginning to form. Mai forced a weak smile herself and stared glumly down at her hands; she had almost blown her entire cover by letting that Ichigaki bastard get the better of her—

A flash of light quickly averted her gaze from her palm and up to the other two boys opposite of her. M1 had released yet another wave of his Angel Blades and directed them towards both Yusuke and Kuwabara. They both leapt out of the way and the detective turned just in time to see the energy blades rip up a part of the ring.

The guardian frowned suddenly as she detected M3 coming in for another attack on them; the pair seemed oblivious to his hand glowing a dim crimson color and growing immensely in size.

"They can only see the Angel Blades," Genkai explained suddenly to her, "They cannot sense nor see M2 or 3's attacks…"

Mai furrowed her brow, "But then they'll never be able to defend against them…" she reasoned quietly.

A cruel chuckle suddenly came from behind them, "Exactly…" came a hostile voice, "That's why your team will never defeat my own…"

The girl whirled as she recognized that voice and mustered all that she could to keep from ripping Ichigaki's face off (that would be Yusuke's job anyway). But even so, she also wished that she could have blown his filthy head off of his shoulders with just one spirit gun. Mai felt Genkai sending her mental warnings to hold her ground.

"Despicable… that's what you are," the guardian growled darkly and threateningly stepped forward, "Using your…your _experiments_ to hide behind; you're a coward, Ichigaki!!"

"So I'm a coward then?" he mused and then smirked cruelly, "What does that make you? Are you afraid to attack me with your spirit powers?" he challenged, "Attack me; I dare you…"

She gritted her teeth and clenched her fists, "My pleasure," she muttered and made a move to advance on the doctor, but Genkai swiftly caught hold of her wrist.

"Mai…" she warned and her own golden brown eyes flashed dangerously towards Ichigaki. The guardian appeared to be mustering all that she could to avoid blasting Ichigaki off the face of the earth and clenched her fists so tightly that a tickle of blood formed beneath her fingers.

_Leave him for now,_ the masked fighter told her; _he can do no real damage alone; we need to assist Yusuke and Kuwabara…_

The girl replied with a quick nod of her head, and started to turn back towards her companions, when she heard the doctor snort in his dry amusement.

"Pitiful…" he chuckled, "…just like that detective—"

Her staff was raised for an attack in a matter of blinking. With her fury mounting, she whirled back to face the doctor and pummel his face into the ground itself. But before she could bring it down on his twisted little head, the golden rod made contact with something else; emitting a dull clang. An angry passion blazed fiercely in her eyes as Kira's staff and M2's weapon collided.

"Like I said before," she muttered through gritted teeth, "You're a filthy coward!!" and in a swift whirl of the rod, she struck M2 in the stomach causing him to falter backwards slightly. But before he could recover, the guardian jumped into the air and shoved both her feet into his chest; and pushing against him, she maneuvered into a back-flip. Then with the grace of a master, landed agilely back on the ring and—without glancing back—raced after her two other companions.

Mai could hear the masked fighter hurrying after her as well as M2 beginning to follow. M1 and 3 continued to attack one after the other as the two boys tried their best to avoid them. Once again, the guardian wished that she could use her spirit powers to simply wipe out Ichigaki and the rest of his team…until she remembered that these humans weren't _trying_ to hurt them; they were all under the control of those sickly organisms growing out of their backs. And that if she did use her powers, there was a chance that they would die even though technically they were innocent.

She cursed her luck; why, of all the fights, did she have to conceal her spirit energy in this one?!

The guardian froze suddenly when she caught a flash of movement above her. She stopped swiftly and glanced upwards to find M2 hurdling over her, only to land a moment later precisely in line with his other two teammates. The human didn't even glance back at the girl, but kept his eyes—as well as M1 and 3's—on Yusuke and Kuwabara.

And even through the deafening roars of the crowd around them, Mai could still make out the dry, hoarse chant of the three fighters standing between her and her companions:

"…Kill…" they growled, "…kill….kill…kill…"

It was as if that was all they had on their mind; that nothing else mattered to them except to kill the entire Urameshi team. But if what Genkai said was true, then these people would never purposely want to kill another human being. Their minds were at the mercy of Ichigaki however, and he could make them think whatever he wanted them to.

Kazuma suddenly stepped forward in a stance that made it appear as though he was ready to attack the three fighters, but instead he paused…and started to talk to them…

"What are you doing?!" he demanded and Mai suddenly noticed something resembling compassion flickering in his eyes, "You can fight back against Ichigaki!! You don't have to be like this!!"

But it seemed as though they wouldn't even listen to him…either that, or it was because they couldn't hear him for some reason…But whatever it was, the three fighters suddenly launched themselves at the redhead. And seeing his friend in near danger, Urameshi took it upon himself to go after them as well.

But M1 found a way to get past the detective and swiftly released another round of his Angel Blades on Kuwabara. The redhead stood there for a fraction of a moment in shock before he quickly jumped into the air to try and avoid the attack. But being weak as he was, he wasn't quick enough to avoid the attack completely and instead, the majority of the blades came and struck him entirely over his body.

"Kuwabara!!" Mai cried as the redhead crashed into the ring. And avoiding the rest of the Ichigaki team, quickly made her way over to his side where she knelt to make sure he was alright, "Kuwabara, are you okay?!"

He slowly lifted his head from the ground, but his eyes would not leave the three fighters. The guardian saw something in his eyes that almost made it feel as though her heart was breaking; there was such sadness and pain when he looked at Doctor Ichigaki's team it was almost unbearable.

"K-Kazuma…?" she asked softly now and eyed his grievous wounds carefully. _He must be in so much pain…_she thought sadly to herself when she noticed blood beginning to stain the back of his shirt.

"Why aren't they fighting it…?" he answered despondently, almost as if he wasn't talking to anyone at all, "Why don't they fight against it?"

She stared at him for a moment before she glanced back towards the three humans. After a moment she shook her head slowly and turned back to him, "They are fighting it, Kuwabara; we just can't see it…but…but whatever's controlling them is keeping them from fully breaking free…"

Up in the stands, Keiko bit her lip as the fight continued on. Her large brown eyes turned up towards the older girl next to her, "Wh…What are they doing, Shizuru?" she asked worriedly, "Why won't they fight back against them…?"

She didn't answer right away; her eyes remained on her "baby" brother and the little red-haired girl beside him. She was talking with Kazuma; her eyes kept on glancing back between the three other humans and the boy next to her. So far Kuwabara hadn't even thrown a punch at the opposing team, and yet he allowed himself to get beat up continuously.

"They feel sorry for them…" Shizuru answered with a sigh, "For some reason they won't fight because of that…"

The younger teen seemed to pale horribly, "Then…Then if they don't fight back, they might die…" she said in hardly more than a whisper and glanced back up at her.

Shizuru shrugged and then noticed movement on the sidelines below, "In any case, you can bet that Botan will give them a piece of her mind…" she said and gestured towards where the ferry girl running across the field to the ring.

"What the hell are you guys doing?!" the blue-haired girl demanded as she charged to the edge of the arena.

Before she could release her wrath on either of them, Mai quickly cut in, "They're not of their own will, Botan…they're being controlled by Ichigaki somehow!"

She frowned presently as the doctor began to chuckle darkly from the opposite side of the ring. Just as Yusuke had defended off M2 and 3, he paused and glared at the short demon dangerously, "What's so funny, jackass?" he inquired threateningly.

Ichigaki narrowed his eyes as his dreadful little smirk twisted along his jaw and he held up the controller in his hands, "The Verrucae continuously pumps a chemical into the bloodstream…" he stated gesturing towards the deep red organism attached to either fighter's back, "It allows me to control their every movement…"

With that, his claw-like fingers pressed several buttons on the remote and twirled another two or three knobs. Then, without warning, M3 suddenly launched himself at Yusuke while M2 when after Kuwabara and Mai. The brown-haired human raised his bared hand at the detective and—seeing where this would lead—Urameshi quickly tried to flip out of the way. But once more, it was inevitable that he would not make it out of the way in time.

Mai opened her mouth to cry out and warn him, but before she could even emit a sound, she noticed a swift movement charging towards the detective from the right. Her eyes shifted quickly and noticed with a start Genkai already beginning to leap into the air. The woman suddenly kicked him out of the way just as M3's hand began to glow a bright crimson color.

In an instant, the masked fighter was enveloped in the bright red attack. It was as if time stood still as she was flung backwards; charging off the ring. Her body dug into the arena causing bits and pieces of the tile flooring to fly upwards around her as she suddenly rammed into the concrete wall just below the stands.

The guardian stood dumbfounded staring open-mouthed at the pile of rubble that now covered the old woman. And as she stared, she did not move again…It took all she could to not call out Genkai's name, but it was becoming harder and harder not to.

Something in her senses pricked when she remembered that M2 had still been sent after both herself and Kuwabara. Swiftly she turned just in time to see the human raising his invisible (at least to Kazuma) weapon over his head and with her hands already gripping her staff, she raised it before her as his hands came down.

She gritted her teeth as she felt M2 force his weapon harder on top of her.

"Please fight it!" Mai now pleaded with the human; trying desperately to communicate with him, but all she could see was the anger blazing in his eyes, "Please, I know you're not really like this!!"

There was nothing in his cold-hard gaze and she soon felt all hope slipping away. Quickly, she glanced back towards Kuwabara for any assistance, but even so, she knew no matter what he said he wouldn't be able to make much of a difference either.

Behind M2, Ichigaki smirked malevolently and once more fiddled with the controller in his hands. After a moment he looked up and his eyes suddenly flashed with a dark malice, "Kill them all…" he ordered darkly.

Suddenly Mai felt her arms beginning to collapse beneath the weight of the human above her as his eyes went blank with a furious rage. The guardian braced herself when she quickly shifted her feet beneath her.

"Hey, Kuwabara, I could really use some help here…" she moaned as she slowly grew closer to the ground.

"I don't want to hurt them, though…" he argued, "They're really not bad people—!"

"I know they're not, Kazuma!!" Mai snapped a little irritably, "I don't want to hurt them anymore than you do, but you need to help me get him the hell off of me!!"

The redhead faltered for a second before he quickly came to kneel beside the guardian. He used his own strength to assist her as they both threw their body weight against Kira's staff. Slowly and steadily, they were able to sense M2 beginning to fall backwards and they continued to push harder. With a final thrust, the human staggered backward and Mai took her staff back in her hands.

"Sorry about this," she muttered quickly as she drove her staff into his gut. She spun around agilely and came around with her leg outstretched causing M2 to fly backwards through the air. The guardian nearly looked ashamed of what she had done and bowed her head slightly, "Like I said; I'm sorry about this—"

"Heads up, Mai!!" Kuwabara roared suddenly. The guardian turned quickly to find that M3 had extracted himself away from Yusuke and was now charging at the two of them. Quickly, she readied herself with Kira's staff and her eyes flamed with a mix of regret and anger as the human quickly approached.

She felt Kazuma move to stand next to her, "They _have_ to be good people deep down," he reasoned as M3 quickly charged towards them, "They can't be attacking us of their own will!!"

"They're not!" Mai told him, "Ichigaki is controlling them; unless we find some way to get rid of those Verrucae, they'll remain his pawns—but even that may be dangerous; we don't know how deep those things are embedded into them!"

"All we can do is defend against them…" the redhead said quietly.

The guardian sighed, "Yeah."

M3 was approaching quickly and began to raise his hand; preparing to attack them. But even before Mai could lift her staff, the human was suddenly launched backwards. The pair blinked in confusion before they realized that the masked fighter had jumped back into the ring. And without saying a word to either of them, she quickly leapt across the arena towards where Yusuke was trying to avoid M1's Angel Blades.

In a complicated maneuver of jumps and kicks, she had tackled the human to the ground of the arena floor. But not before one of his stray blades had sliced at their face.

As they landed back on the floor the addressed the rest of team Urameshi, "Your sympathy is admirable…but it will get you nowhere…"

And slowly they inclined their head back towards them while Mai let out a gasp of surprise: Not only had the mask around their face almost entirely removed itself…

But the woman beneath it was not Master Genkai…

-:-

a/n: ANNNNNNNNND CUT!!

Haha, well that's a wrap people for this week; I hope you all enjoyed!! (Don't worry; major ass-whooping for Ichigaki in the next chapter(s)!!)

Um…well there's not much else to say…but…

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!

LoL, be safe everyone! And try and keep with your resolutions! (mine's to try and burn 150 cals a day on my DDR :-)

Ciao!!!!!!


	17. Ambition Destroyed: A Trial by Light

DISCLAIMER: ::irritated sigh:: it's been in the entire fic; go look it up…

a/n: wow, science fair is such a pain in the ass it's not even funny…And that stupid doctor gave me antibiotics that didn't even work (hell, I think they made it worse!) But thank goodness for my computer!! ::huggles monitor::

Thankies to my reviewers!

Sk8tergirl69: Thank you! I'm glad you enjoyed! (I'll be sure to try and keep up with your story a bit better ::nervous laugh: )

Sarah1281: LoL…you ramble a lot do you know that? Haha, jk, jk, don't worry! And the reason Kuwabara and Yusuke-kun didn't sense Mai's energy was probably because they were too busy trying not to die (haha, even though I already told you that, didn't I?) Plus you can bet Ichigaki will get "severely injured" in fact, you can count on it!

XxXRoseVixenXxX: haha, yeah, sorry it was so long (this one might be just as long if not longer ::nervous laugh::)

TonyDiMerasbedroomslave: oh! I'm so glad you enjoy it so much! LoL, though I don't suppose it's as popular as Fire Dancer, but still I'm glad all of you are hanging in there with me!

Naoko Asakura 009: Okay! Here's your update!

Witelighter-Death: ew…it's you…Haha, just kidding (I won't say your actual name just in case you want to remain anonymous like _I_ did until _someone_—who will not be named—gave it away) but I'm glad you were able to get to one of the school computers to review and junk (it is a wonder why they still have this website still available there) And of course you're welcome to use the staff-thingy idea.

Please enjoy!!

_Thoughts/Flashback_

_Fire Angel_

::Ambition Destroyed: A Trial by Light::

All Mai found capable of was staring gape-mouthed at the fighter before her. For a moment she felt her body go numb in shock and she sensed the same astonishment coming from the two boys beside her; though she doubted highly that it was for the same reasons. In front of her, stood a short, young woman with bright pink hair and a beauty that might even challenge Kira's…It sent her into a silent awe and almost into a confused daze. Hell, she had even _seen_ with her own eyes Master Genkai only a few hours ago—and had even seen her place the mask back around her face and walk back with her towards the stadium.

If Genkai had never left her side…then how the devil (a/n: hehe) did this person get here? More importantly, who _was_ this person?!

Her head spun with the perplexity of it all; she could bet her life on it that Genkai had been in the ring the entire time! She had even been with her while walking back to the arena; how could this person not be her?!

The guardian mentally sensed the fighter rolling her deep golden-brown eyes; _don't tell me you've fallen to the stupidity level of that dimwit…_

She jumped slightly and glared at the young girl carefully even though she did not glance back in return. But then the fighter telepathically sighed irritably and mentally rolled her eyes once more, _use your logic, Mai; you've been puzzling over it for this long. It's still me…_she added after a pause. The guardian furrowed her brow in confusion, but would not take her eyes off of her.

_How?_

As the woman kept her gaze forward, she answered, _I'll explain later._

Dissatisfied with her reply, Mai nearly sighed with frustration—but a little too loudly because Kuwabara noticed as soon as her breath passed her lips. He stared at her oddly, but didn't have time to inquire her when his eyes suddenly darted to the sky. The guardian followed his gaze swiftly and noticed with confusion a dark figure suddenly plummeting towards the earth.

"What the hell—?!"

Even before she could finish, the mass crashed into the ground with a sickening _thud_; and through the stunned silence sweeping through the crowd (and the appearance of the figure's mangled form) it became apparent that it was Ichigaki's missing fighter. With her curiosity getting the better of her, Mai carefully walked towards the edge of the ring…only to feel bile building near the back of her throat when she saw the demon's limbs cracked and twisted in all the wrong directions, and the blood beginning to surround its body.

The same questioned bubbled from everywhere in the stadium, but prior to anyone actually asking it aloud, there came a shadow blocking out the light from above. All heads turned up towards the sky once more as yet another shadowy mass plummeted to the earth. This time however, it was not another body that fell to the ground, but what appeared to be…a giant machine. The earth trembled violently as craters appeared beneath its massive feet; and swiftly following its descent, followed two others.

For a moment, the guardian blinked before a smile leapt onto her lips, "Kurama-kun!" she cried out in both surprise and joy. Even so, she couldn't help but wonder what the hell that thing was he and Hiei were standing on…

Behind them, cowering near the very edge of the ring, Ichigaki stared wide-eyed both his fallen experiment and the Gatasubul standing motionless beneath the two boys. A mix a fear and fury raced through him; how could the Gatasubul have been defeated?! It was invincible! His beady eyes swiveled towards the crumpled body of his other experiment, _damn them…_he thought bitterly, _damn them all to hell!_

But as the two fighters stood on the machine, both their eyes widened in surprise when they caught sight of the young woman standing in the ring. It was evident that they also had no clue to who she was. After only a moment, the fighter sensed them watching and swiftly retied the mask around their head. Kurama shook his head slightly and returned his attention to his teammates.

His eyes then fell darkly on the doctor standing opposite of them on the other end of the ring, "Before we disposed of your creation, Ichigaki, we were able to retrieve a few valuable pieces of information from him…" he started addressing the team leader. The redhead paused and then turned to his teammates, "He was the one who infected Mitamura in the first place; Ichigaki used it as a ploy so that he could use their bodies in his experiments—"

A chill swept through the crowd suddenly when a deep, maniacal laughter emitted from the edge of the arena where Ichigaki's face contorted into one of pure insanity. Mai felt her skin crawl when the crazed laughter echoed through the stadium and she turned slightly so that she could see the doctor as he began to speak.

"Once my fighters win, I'll have no use for their pitiful bodies; at least, so long as I have yours, Urameshi…" he told them, "With your body I'll be unbeatable! And those foolish humans will be nothing to me; I'll simply kill them off!" and once more his insane laughter filled the air.

The guardian suddenly felt her nails digging into her palm as he fists clenched tightly. And beside her she sensed Kuwabara and Yusuke doing the same. He made her sick; that bastard the way he treated those humans like scum and if she hadn't been trying to hold back on her spirit energy, she would have sent a spirit gun blasting into Ichigaki's ugly face. But before the thought even entirely crossed her mind, she found herself watching the two boys run after the doctor. In her alarm, she quickly followed directly after them, even though she saw that they would not break through.

Without warning, M2 appeared out of nowhere; his leg suddenly kicking into Yusuke's stomach while M1 threw a punch straight into Kazuma's jaw. For a split second, the startling thought of where M3 raced through her mind. And if she didn't need anymore surprise attacks, she sensed the human's fist hurtling towards her. Just a fraction of a second before his attack could come in contact; she ducked, but not before M3 suddenly kneed her in the gut.

She coughed up a small droplet of blood onto the arena beneath her and buckled over. Behind them along the sidelines, both Kurama and Hiei made a move to leap into the ring, but before they could, Koto quickly held her hand out to stop them.

"Each team has already decided on a four-on-four battle," she explained hastily, "If either of you were to enter now, you'd disqualify your team!"

Yusuke glowered darkly to himself as he landed back on the arena next to Mai where he made sure she was doing alright. Each time he tried to attack that damn Ichigaki, those humans would get in his way and would fight back even harder. As he knelt beside the guardian, she wiped at the blood in the corner of her mouth and looked up at the other three fighters and then to the detective.

"What the hell is wrong with them?!" he asked out loud, "Why do they keep protecting him?!"

The girl opened her mouth to respond, but before she could, Ichigaki overheard him and answered, "I control them with the Verrucae, detective," he said with a sickly smirk, "They _want _to protect me."

Urameshi gritted his teeth and began to stand just as Kazuma landed next to them. As Mai studied him, she noticed how stern his features were and that he almost appeared far away; as if deep in thought (a/n: yeah right…haha, sorry Kazuma-san). She could tell that he was still uncertain as to why the humans were still trying to protect Ichigaki. The guardian furrowed her brow as she remembered what Genkai had told her before—and partially from the pain that was occurring in her abdomen—she had said that Mitamura's students would never kill another human being…it was all the Verrucae; those organisms were the only thing controlling them.

"Their personalities are only covered up," the redhead said quietly as if reading her thoughts, "They're still there—"

Suddenly, the three fighters began to charge at them once more. And before Mai could argue, Yusuke had scooped her up off the ground and made a mad dash to the opposite end of the ring. But when the guardian glanced behind, she felt her stomach drop when she saw that Kazuma remained rigid in the center of the arena; waiting for them to approach him.

As Urameshi pivoted around, she cried out, "Kuwabara!!"

But the redhead didn't seem to hear her and merely stood there waiting for his enemies to get to him. There was a fear that crossed the detective's eyes as he watched his friend standing alone in the center or the ring.

"Tell me how to help you guys!!" Kazuma demanded as they continued to charge, "I want to help you!"

"Don't be an idiot, Kuwabara—!!" Urameshi started, but was cut off when Ichigaki's fighters suddenly slid to a halt in front of the redhead. An eerie pause then filled the air, but Kazuma took no notice, but used it to his advantage. He quickly stepped forward and gripped M3 by the shoulders.

"You can fight this!" he told them, "Just tell me how I can help y—!!"

All time froze for but a moment as M3 swiftly dug his fist into the redhead's stomach. Kuwabara's eyes grew wide briefly and he let out a choked cough as he stumbled backwards. Not a sliver of emotion crossed the three fighter's faces; nothing but cruel fury that wasn't even theirs to begin with…it was all because of those Verrucae.

Yusuke gritted his teeth and gently set Mai back on her feet. She turned her gaze back between him and the redhead doubled over on the arena before them. The detective made a move to run to his side, but immediately as he took a step forward, Kazuma noticed and cut him off.

"Stay back, Urameshi," he muttered as he uneasily stood back on his feet. But before he had even straightened, the three humans all leapt into the air at once. The entire trio drew their weapons in a flash and raised them above their heads and above the redhead merely standing below. The attack came so quickly that if she hadn't heard the sickening sounds of the collision, Mai would have never been able to guess that it had even happened. Kuwabara was suddenly flung backwards as his body smashed along the arena floor until it skidded off the ring and into the sidelines. Immediately, Botan was quickly at his side while trying to mend the new wounds that had now appeared.

Mai felt her heart dropping quickly when the redhead did not stir afterwards. Beside her, Urameshi stared nearly wide-eyed at his fallen comrade. The guardian was shocked to see—what appeared to be—tears forming at the corners of his eyes. But they were quickly gone as he turned back to the fighters across from him.

"Why are you doing this?!" he demanded, "He was trying to help you, dammit! Don't you want those frickin Verrucae off of you or what?!"

There was another pause after he said this. And then with a start, Mai saw—instead of tears—blood pouring from beneath their eyes. All three of them stood there crying tears of blood; tears of despair and sorrow. Then, their mouths slowly began to open and close as if they were trying to speak…and softly, ever so softly, their voice broke through; no longer filled with hatred or cruelty, but with pure anguish.

"K…Kill…us…" they whispered in their hoarse voices as they struggled to speak through the Verrucae's bonds.

Both Urameshi and the guardian stood aghast and glanced at one another quickly. They…they were begging them to kill them…Did that mean…?

"They purposely missed Kuwabara's vital points," the masked fighter said as they suddenly appeared beside them, "He'll live."

Mai felt a tugging at her heart when she stared back towards the crying fighters, "They're at war with their own bodies," she whispered sadly and nearly hung her head, "But the Verrucae are too strong; th-their good personalities are losing…Damn him; Damn that Ichigaki! Him and those cowardly experiments!" she now felt tears filling her own eyes and she irritably wiped them away, "They're in so much pain, those humans…so much pain and sorrow…"

The detective watched her for a moment before turning his attention back to their opponents.

_So much pain…_

"K-Kill us…" they pleaded again as their bloody tears continued to stain their faces. Yusuke gritted his teeth as the mix of emotions coursed through him. It was like Mai said; they were in such agony…and they knew that they could not control their bodies any longer with the Verrucae attached. They _wanted_ to be killed, but the detective couldn't bring himself to do it, though; they were innocent. Maybe Kuwabara had the right idea that they could help them out of it…

But there was no other way; the Verrucae had taken over their bodies, and even now they were having trouble merely speaking. They knew themselves that there was no other way to stop them once those organisms took over again…the fighters wanted to help _them_.

He clenched his fists slowly, "I'm sorry…" he whispered so softly that even Mai didn't hear him. But her gaze suddenly jerked towards him, though and her eyes grew wide in surprise as her senses prickled. Around his body was a hazy, blue glow that pulsed with his spirit power. She felt a chill race down her spine as she sensed his energy rising at an incredible rate; almost to the point of it reaching over its maximum capacity.

_His emotions have released his powers_, Genkai explained telepathically as she watched the detective calmly, but Mai sensed her eyes narrowing; _I never expected it to rise this fast, though…_

Urameshi's energy continued to rise and the guardian bit her lip slightly and turned towards the masked fight, _Does this mean I can use my spirit powers?_

There was a pause before Genkai responded and with the slightest bit of amusement, _Just don't go overboard; Yusuke still has to connect with the rest of his energy…Use enough to protect him, no more…_

She nodded briskly and quickly stepped next to the detective, letting her own energy seep out in the littlest bits she could muster. Urameshi's eyes remained forward and locked on the three humans in front of them; but they were clouded with a deep sense of thought.

After a moment, he switched his gaze to her and smiled slightly, "Ready?" he asked.

She paused briefly before she sighed heavily, "As much as I'm going to be."

Yusuke nodded; understanding her hesitation, "Same here," he told her quietly, "…But we have to help them…" he added and glanced backwards to where Kazuma lay along the sidelines.

The guardian stared straight ahead and then placed Kira's staff into her hands, "Come on."

And simultaneously, the duo charged forward with Urameshi's energy blazing and Mai's beginning to emerge once more. As they sprinted across the arena, the guardian sensed a sudden change in him; and she was almost positive that his change was that from uncertainty to determination; he knew what he had to do now and there was no stopping him. The humans saw them coming and prepared themselves; the Verrucae beginning to take over once again.

With a smash, both of the detective's fists smashed into M1 and 2 while Mai swung her staff around into M3's ribcage. Each of them stumbled backwards, stunned, for but a moment before they lunged back at the pair, but they were both ready. As the trio of humans began to attack again, the guardian noticed—by the way Urameshi was maneuvering—that he must have found a way to figure out their attacks.

And after keeping her energy locked up for so long, she was beginning to see the attacks a little clearer herself. M3's Grizzly Claw attack was nothing more than a ball of energy he held in his hand and threw at his opponents; and while knowing that, it was easily avoidable. The guardian's eyes flashed towards M1 and his Angel Blades and realized with a curious awe that there weren't eight rings as she had thought them to be, but two actual attacks while the rest were merely illusions to confuse them. M2 suddenly came up behind her and she spun, raising Kira's staff over her head. The green energy flowing between his hands showed her that his attack was nothing more than a pole of energy.

Yusuke began to pummel each of the fighters one by one without even pausing in-between. The guardian had to stop for a moment and watch awe-filled as his energy pulsed around him with such a magnitude that she was afraid to get in his way of fighting.

Along the edge of the ring, Ichigaki paled horribly, "H-How is this possible?! How could his energy have risen so much!?"

Suddenly, Urameshi's right fist began to emit a ball of blue energy as he smashed it into the side of M2's face, sending him flying backwards to where his other two teammates stood after being stunned by Yusuke's attacks. Mai noticed with a jolt that there appeared to be an angry determination burning in his eyes now. The detective suddenly leapt backwards into the air and stretched his arms outwards with his index finger pointing at the three fighters. The guardian felt her stomach drop:

He was going to do it.

"Yusuke…" she whispered and started to hang her head; she didn't want to watch them die…

But just as her eyes sought the ground, a flash of movement caught her attention, and her gaze quickly turned back to the detective getting ready to attack the three humans. He was not alone, however, and Mai noticed the masked fighter hovering next to him. Her hand latched on to his arm and the detective stared at it almost horror-stricken.

"You've learned enough," she told him as he suddenly began to descend back to the earth. The guardian quickly raced to his side the moment his feet touched the earth while he cradled his arm in his and gingerly.

"What the fuck did she do?!" he demanded and stared back down at his hand as it was beginning to fade of its bluish glow. After a brief moment, he shook it as if trying to regain its feeling, "It's like she paralyzed it…"

But she didn't answer him. Her eyes remained locked on Genkai as she agilely landed back onto the arena floor. What in the world was she planning? If she didn't want Yusuke to use his spirit gun then what could she possibly do to find a better way to get rid of them—? She froze suddenly as a thought crossed her mind; the woman had told her about the technique once before…but was she planning on using it now?

Before her mind could process the thought, the masked fighter quickly landed back on the tile flooring and clapped their hands together as if praying. She began to chant in a language that she did not understand as a ball of pale light formed around her hands. While the fighter continued the mantra, both the detective and the guardian suddenly felt the earth beneath them beginning to tremble.

Then, the fighter cried out a final word to the chant that echoed through the stadium. Clouds suddenly began to gather overhead and in another instant, a bluish-green tornado burst from Genkai's hands and roared into the sky. A thin green charge of energy spiraled around it as the air above began to moan uneasily. But to the other side of the arena, Ichigaki stared at the tornado of energy in mockery (after first being a bit surprised…). Irritably, he pulled from his pocket the controller and punched several buttons.

_What idiots…this is nothing more than one of their silly hoaxes…_he thought smugly to himself as he pressed a final lever and watched as his three fighters began to charge towards the masked fighter.

Yusuke watched uneasily as the humans started to race across the ring, "Well whatever the hell she's planning to do, she better do it quick," he said.

The guardian nodded in her agreement and fingered Kira's staff, _Come on, Genkai…_

They were drawing their weapons quickly and were growing closer to the fighter. And as they raised them above their heads and made ready to attack the woman, Genkai suddenly let out a war cry and swung her arms around her head; causing the tornado above her to twist about. Then she forced her palms outwards towards the three fighters and the vortex was suddenly swallowed into her hands…only to suddenly release a blast of energy an instant later. The energy shot outwards like a bullet and surrounded her in a veil that covered her in a dome of light.

All three fighters were suddenly paralyzed in the midst of the air; frozen against the shield of light the masked fighter had created. But even before any of them could blink, the woman leapt into the air, and Mai thanked the little spirit awareness she possessed that allowed her to follow Genkai's moves as she zipped in and out of view. Whenever she would appear, she would be hovering only inches from on of the fighters, only to use her slender fingers to pierce the area of their hearts.

After each of the fighters had witnessed her attack, she agilely set down once more along the ground and watched as the three of them fell to the ground with a crash. It took only a moment before the guardian realized that the Verrucae were no longer attached to the humans, but instead lay shriveled on the arena floor.

There was a stunned silence that filled the air around them. After only a moment, Yusuke quickly made his way next to the masked fighter as Mai followed closely at his heels.

"What the hell! If you were planning on killing them anyway, why wouldn't you let me use my spirit gun?!" Urameshi demanded as he confronted her. Mai stood behind them, stunned while watching the three fighters lying motionless along the ground. Their bodies were spread eagle-style and their eyes remained closed.

Genkai did not reply to the detective, but stood calmly as Koto completed her ten-count.

"The majority of team Ichigaki is unable to fight!" she declared, raising her hand above her head, "II believe—if the rulebook serves me correctly—that means team Urameshi is the winner!!"

The doctor stood rigid, staring wide-eyed at his fallen fighters. His beady black eyes flickered between them and the three remaining fighters on the opposing team. He stared at them for a moment before a sickly smirk formed at his crooked jaw.

"Mitamura is still at my mercy; kill me, and I kill him; I'm the only one with a cure—!"

"Not true," Kurama interrupted softly as he and Hiei suddenly appeared behind him along the sidelines, "We failed to mention earlier that the rest of the information we extracted were the whereabouts of Mitamura. And although we were not able to find a cure, this island supplied us with enough to create one of our own…" he said and withdrew a vial from his pocket.

Ichigaki stared at it in horror and his eyes—along with the rest of the stadium—flashed towards the nearby entryway where a single figure emerged from the shadows. The man that appeared was pale and dark rings formed beneath his eyes. Mai instantly recognized the man from Kuwabara's dream. Although he appeared much sicklier in person, she was able to place him as Mitamura. She blinked in surprise though; Ichigaki had through this out a lot further than she expected.

Yusuke strode dangerously towards the doctor until he towered over him. The guardian noticed with a start the fury burning in his eyes. She saw his fists clench to the point where she was almost certain she could see the muscles in his hand jerking.

"So are you going to try and keep fighting?" he growled through gritted teeth, "If not, we still have that deal; I still have to rip your face off."

His black eyes swiveled just as the guardian came to stand next to him. Ichigaki took a horrified step backwards, only to find there was no place to go; between Kurama and Hiei, and the detective and guardian in front of him, he was trapped.

"Even with Kuwabara out of the ring, me and Mai could still smash your face in," he continued darkly, "Either way—if you choose to fight or leave—you're finished."

The terror in his eyes remained for just a moment longer before he sneered maliciously and his hand went to his breast pocket. In a flash, he whipped out a single syringe filled with a deep purple liquid. And before either of them could stop him, the doctor drove its point into his arm at let the formula seep into his body. He smirked as he watched the uncertainty cross their faces.

"You didn't think I'd be so stupid as to leave out a plan B, did you…?" he sneered. But before he even started to finish, both Mai and Urameshi noticed with a sickening jolt that his skin was beginning to bubble. His hands enlarged as razor-like claws grew from his nails and his entire body began to morph. Slowly, ever so slowly, the doctor's body started to grow…almost to the point where he stood over four times Yusuke's height. The tint of his skin had turned into a sickly green just as sharp fangs appeared protruding from his jaw.

Mai took a wary step backwards, "Where the hell did he get all that power?" she asked as the detective frowned angrily.

"It's not his, that's for sure; wherever it came from was probably in whatever he just shoved into his body…"

A deep-throated laugh cut him off as Ichigaki's new form towered above them. It seemed as though the entire stadium rumbled with it and Urameshi gritted his teeth, "Do you like it?" the monster growled, "It hasn't been tested all that well…but it's sure as hell enough to beat the likes of you!"

And prior either of them could comprehend what was happening; Ichigaki raised a single claw towards them. In an instant, Mai suddenly found herself staring into his deformed palm and before she could raise her staff in front of her, she found herself crashing into the tiled floor beneath her. The guardian's body ripped through the flooring and she felt the sharp stone tearing at her flesh. She cried out as the creature's claw pinned her to the ground; shoving her deeper into the pointed rock. There was blood beginning to stain her shirt, when she felt the warm, sticky liquid drenching the fabric.

She stared in a fearful awe at the arm that was pinning her down. Ichigaki was yards away from her, and yet his newly formed claw stretched across the arena. _Great_, she thought, _Mr. Stretchy Fingers…_Couldn't he have found a more creative power?

"Mai!!" it seemed as though both Yusuke and Kurama called out her name at once, but the doctor swiftly sent his second claw after them before they could try and help her. Thankfully, they were each able to dodge his attack and landed safely back on the ground. The guardian, on the other hand, was not relieved of the giant hand shoving her into the earth…and personally, she wasn't enjoying it.

Beneath his twisted fist, she shifted her hand until it lay palm-upward. She gritted her teeth dangerously as she glared at the monster across the ring.

"When I said burn in hell…" she growled, "I meant it literally!!"

Suddenly, Ichigaki howled in pain and quickly withdrew his hand as a flash of light enveloped a small section of the arena. In a split second, the guardian leapt back to her feet and raced back towards Yusuke as the monster cradled his arm to his chest. Then his glowing, yellow eyes flashed towards her and the detective dangerously.

"Conniving bitch!" he roared, and in that same moment, he drove both of his claws at Mai and Yusuke. The guardian found just enough time to dodge his attack, but the detective wasn't as lucky. He was able to maneuver around most of the attack, but before he was able to completely get out of the way, one of Ichigaki's claws struck him in the arm. A splatter of blood suddenly stained the tile flooring beneath him as he landed back on the ground, clutching his wounded arm.

In any other moment, Mai would have been at his side in a second, but Hiei beat her to it. The apparition had already drawn his katana and stood in front of Yusuke. She could tell, by the look in his eyes that he was just itching to decapitate the demon before him, even with his injured hand.

"Back off, Hiei." Urameshi ordered as he made his way to his feet, "This bastard's mine."

He watched the detective for a moment before he shrugged and stepped off to the side, "Don't get killed." He said as added advice.

Still clutching his arm, Yusuke grimaced, "Yeah, thanks for your concern," he replied with a bit of sarcasm.

"Fools!" Ichigaki roared, "You can't beat me; you'll all die!"

And a moment later, the doctor's arms hurled themselves at the detective furiously. Hiei zipped out of view for a moment as the limbs approached and Yusuke clenched his fists at his sides. Both arms drove at Urameshi, but the detective merely sidestepped them both. Each of the claws latched onto the tile floor, expecting to be piercing the detective, but instead, Yusuke quickly wrapped both his arms around the limbs and let out an angry cry that almost shook the stadium.

Mai shivered when she felt the eerie blue aura beginning to surround him. Ichigaki's eyes widened in fear as Urameshi tightened his grip on the two arms. Then, he was able to yank both limbs backwards, causing the doctor to stumble forwards. And before Ichigaki was able to recover, Yusuke disappeared and reappeared a moment later just inches from his face. In a flurry of kicks and uppercuts to the chest, the doctor now staggered backwards, almost to the brink of falling off the ring.

But even before he could do that, Yusuke returned and threw a furious punch to the doctor's face.

"That's for the lives you've taken!!" he roared and hurled his fist into the other side of his face, "And that's for Kuwabara and Mai!!"

Ichigaki stumbled across the ring as Urameshi used an extreme uppercut to his jaw, "And this—this is just for pissing me off!!" And with an incredible force, the doctor's monstrous form was lifted clear off the ground and soared through the air straight out of the stadium and into the world beyond.

The detective cracked his knuckles as he watched Ichigaki disappeared behind the walls, "Bastard…" he muttered darkly. For a moment, Mai stood blinking, but the second she had recovered, she rushed to Urameshi's side and wrapped her arms around his neck.

"Haha! Yusuke you did it!" she cheered happily.

He blinked, "Eh?! Hey, hey!!" he cried and hurriedly tried to shake her off as his face turned a bright shade of red, "Ah…thanks Mai…" he said after an awkward moment and rubbed the back of his head. The guardian backed off and beamed excitedly from ear to ear.

"You must forgive me…" said a weak voice from the sidelines, "…But even Ichigaki's demise is not enough to bring back the dead…"

Both Yusuke and Mai turned to see Mitamura leaning heavily on Kurama's shoulder, and their joy quickly faded when they noted the sorrow in his eyes. They both glanced at one another before they gently jumped down onto the grass to confront the man. The guardian had to bite her lip gently to keep from crying herself when she saw tears forming in Mitamura's sunken eyes.

But before either of them could express their pity, the masked fighter suddenly appeared beside them all with her hands folded neatly behind her back, "Your students are not dead," she said gently and even as she was speaking, the three bodies along the floor of the arena began to stir slowly. Then one by one, each of the fighters staggered to their feet.

The guardian watched as Mitamura's face lit up with a tearful joy and he carefully removed himself from the support of Kurama and weakly made his way towards the ring. But the three fighters quickly saw him and turned their backs.

"W…we don't deserve to be your students…" the redhead whispered, "…not after all the horrible deeds we've done…"

The master opened his mouth to speak to them, but Genkai quickly cut him off from the sidelines, "Neither of you should worry," she told them, "The Spirit Wave technique is an attack that—if the soul if pure of heart—frees the body from any obstructions. If you were truly evil on the inside, the attack would have killed all three of you…"

"And I've known that all along…" Mitamura continued gently, "Even now I am able to see you for the good people you truly are…"

A pause filled the air before the three fighters quietly turned to face their master with tears filling their eyes. Then, they all swiftly gathered at his side, clasping their hands to his. All four of them began to weep as tears of joy streamed down their faces.

Mai smiled quietly to herself and looked down at her feet.

"You're not going to cry, now, are you?" Yusuke asked without taking his eyes of the reunion taking place on the ring.

The guardian blew out her cheeks irritably, "No—" she began to insist, but Urameshi cut her off.

"'Cause it's okay if you do…" he continued softly. She found herself blinking up at him in surprise, but he would not make eye contact. Her smile grew slightly as they started to make their way back to their own side of the ring.

However, before they had made it too far, they heard a voice calling after them. As they turned, they recognized the tall, brown-haired male jogging towards them as the other two fighters were helping Mitamura off the field.

"Please," he said as he approached and made a quick bow of his head, "My name is Kai; please you must forgive me and the others for acting this way…" his gaze fell on the wounded Kuwabara who was just beginning to stir, "It's the very least I can do, but please let me act as a substitute for your team…"

Urameshi shook his head, though, "Sorry," he said with a shrug, "But I think you'd be better off helping your master…" he said nodding towards the trio waiting beneath the gateway, "Besides, we're only allowed a substitute after one of our fighters are dead; we can't take any chances of jinxing that…" There was a moment where the guardian believed him to be serious, but then he grinned and gave the young man a thumbs-up sign.

After another moment, Kai nodded in his appreciation and hurried off towards his waiting companions. As he and the rest of Mitamura's pupils exited through the tunnel, the demons around them started up their favorite chant again: "Kill Yusuke!"

The detective rolled his eyes as they came upon Botan kneeling beside Kazuma, "Yeah, yeah…" he muttered.

Suddenly, there came a clear beep over the loudspeakers just prior to a woman's voice speaking to the crowds.

"Attention. The next match of the Dark Tournament is to take place immediately…" there was a pause suddenly before they continued, "The next match: team Masho vs. team Urameshi."

A stunned silence swept through the team both of shock and fury.

"Well that's the biggest load of bull I've ever heard!!" Botan shouted while jumping to her feet. Yusuke on the other hand, had already jumped onto the ring and was confronting Koto angrily.

"What the hell is this?!" he demanded, "We just finished the frickin fight!! Does this committee of yours enjoy trying to fuck us or something?!"

The fox-demon blinked and then waved the microphone in his face, "I-I'm sorry, but it's there decision; I'm just here to enforce the rules! If you have a problem, take it up with them…but I doubt highly that you'll be fighting any longer if you do."

Urameshi gritted his teeth and clenched his fists angrily. His eyes flashed towards the hoard of demons surrounded them and glared as if daring them to chant "Kill Yusuke" one more time. But also in the stadium, standing in the archway of another one of the tunnels, stood Toguro as he watched the detective's team with interest.

"Let's see how strong this match will make you…" he said softly to himself, even though he directed the question to Yusuke.

The detective irritably gestured for the rest of his teammates to join him on the arena (with the exception of Kuwabara). Mai glanced around the group warily. Both Kurama and Hiei were wounded from whatever battling they had done prior to the match…and Genkai was completely drained after using that spirit wave technique of hers. Not to mention Kazuma, who was in no condition to fight right now; unless of course he wanted to kill himself…

It seemed as though the very moment she stepped into the ring, there was a sudden blast of wind that ripped through the stadium. The guardian had to push her hair out of her face to see exactly what was going on, and drew in a sharp breath. A tornado was withdrawing itself from the sky above them…and touched down along the sidelines opposite of them. There was a quick flash of light that enveloped the arena and by the time it had faded, five cloaked figures remained.

Each one of them wore cloaks of black and a different symbol etched along each of their hoods. Mai saw Yusuke clench his fists in anticipation.

"Well…this should be fun…" he mused.

-:-

a/n: okay, well for some reason, that only took all week to write… :-) even though I should probably be doing my book report or practicing for my science fair speech. But I didn't want to keep you guys waiting any longer.

I probably felt like writing because I really needed to keep my mind off a few things…

SARAH1281 YOU BETTER BE WRONG ABOUT THE ENTIRE YYH SEASON STARTING OVER!!! Jeeze, that's gonna suck like hell if that stupid CN starts back in the beginning….

I NEED TO GET THE ANIME NETWORK!!! GRRR!!

Haha, anyway, I'll try and update as soon as I can!

NOTENOTENOTENOTENOTE!!!! I am going to (or have already, it just depends) change the title of this story to "Every Drop of Blood" so if you need to search it, that's going to be the new title...

P.S. HAPPY BDAY TO ME!!! (or at least for next week :-))


	18. Faint

DISCLAIMER: Just go look it up in the past 30 chapters of these two stories; it should become evident now that I don't own YYH, but I do own my characters Kira, Mai, and Ryu…AND ONCE AGAIN, I DON'T OWN EVANESCENCE OR THEIR SONGS!

a/n: okay, once again I'm trying to vent some of my anger through my writing so don't be scared; it's just that I just found out today that my stupid science teacher let another girl in my class do almost the exact same science project (and I was supposed to go after her for my speech!) so now I'm just really pissed at him for doing that—and putting us one right after the other…

So before I scare you all off, I'm just going to start the story (be prepared though, it should be a bit long…)

Thanks to my reviewers:

Dolphingirl32173: Well that's what I've heard…but it's my parents' money so I doubt they'll get it…But on the subject of Mai vs. Team Toguro…well you'll just have to find out! ;-)

Sarah1281: wow, you're easily grossed out…LoL, and once again I have to point out that Yusuke and Kuwabara were probably too busy trying not to get the crap beaten out of them to notice.

Umeko Saito: Don't worry about it! I'm just glad you were able to review again! Haha, but I'll try and make the fights a little more original—I was going to for the last chapter, but it didn't really work out for some reason…

Sk8tergirl69: I'm so glad you enjoyed it! But yeah…it's a major bummer that it's repeating (the "new" episodes won't air again for another year! Unless by some miracle, CN starts it back from the Chapter Black saga—which I highly doubt…)

Naoko Asakura 009: Wahoo! It was actually pretty funny because I was getting about just as pissed of as Mai when it came to Ichigaki; LoL, he was getting just a little _too_ annoying for my tastes…Haha, I'm afraid to ask…but who's Kirby? You mean the little pink thing that rides a star? LoL, anyway, I hope you enjoy!

NOTE: don't ask me why I chose the title, but I guess it has some significance near the end of the chapter.

_Thoughts/Flashback_

_With Every Drop of Blood_

:Faint:

"This is the biggest shit-load of bull I've ever heard…" Yusuke muttered darkly as he stared across the ring at the opposite sidelines. Mai fidgeted uneasily as she leaned against Kira's staff for support; at least she wasn't as beaten up as Kuwabara. She glanced behind her where Botan was helping him struggle to his feet and watched as the redhead winced as he tried to stand.

"We're definitely at a disadvantage…" Kurama observed quietly, "That masked fighter of yours is nearly drained after using the spirit wave technique…Not to mention Hiei is incapable of using his right arm," he added and the apparition snorted as a reply.

Koto stepped towards the center of the stage and gestured towards team Masho, "Will both team leaders please approach the ring!" she announced as Urameshi shrugged off the other four members of his team and they quietly left the platform. From along the other side of the ring, one of the cloaked fighters drew back their hood and tossed the cloak aside.

From beneath their mask, the demon's bright red hair spiked out around his face, but not in a way that was unattractive...In the center of his forehead, was a single horn that protruded outwards. His bright blue eyes addressed Yusuke formally as he made a curt nod towards the detective. Mai noticed—with a blush beginning to form along her cheeks—at how well-built this demon was, but then there was that small giggle she struggled to suppress when she saw how much he towered over Urameshi.

But then the guardian noticed how Kurama's eyes darkened slightly as he watched him approached Yusuke, "I believe I've heard of this demon…" he told her and frowned, "Jin, I think his name was…But the only place I've heard his name was in association to the Shinobi of Spirit World…"

Mai frowned also and cocked her head slightly as if to observe the demon at a different angle, "He doesn't look much like a ninja…" she said and then glanced behind him at his teammates, "Though I guess those cloaks of theirs could be a part of that…"

"Here's what I'm proposin' Urameshi…" Jin told the detective in his thick Irish accent with an anticipated grin etched along his face (a/n: I think that's just the cutest! I love Irish accents!(or Scottish; LoL, I have a hard time telling them apart :nervous laugh:)), "What'dya say to one-on-one matches…until one of us has five wins?"

Yusuke watched the demon carefully before he briefly glanced back to his teammates; well it wasn't as if there was an easier way of going through this. He turned back to Jin, "I'm all for it," he replied shortly. Acknowledging one another, they both nodded to and walked off the ring without another word.

Just as the detective was stepping down from the platform, there was another beep from the speakers around the stadium:

"Attention. Due to the condition of Team Urameshi occupants, there will be a five-minute break. During which, the Urameshi team will be given a medical examination…"

The voice faded away against the walls of the stadium and Mai suddenly felt her sense prickled along the back of her neck. For some reason, something didn't feel right; it wasn't as though the committee had welcomed them with opened arms, and lately they had been trying hard to screw them over. It didn't make sense to her why they were allowing them to actually heal—

"Hello…You must be Team Urameshi…"

They all turned at the soft, melodic voice…only to find a beautiful, red-haired nurse standing just a few feet away from them. Strands of her hair fell over her sultry eyes and her magenta uniform only accented on her violet orbs. She approached them slowly and glanced from one fighter to the next—almost completely ignoring Kuwabara—until she detected Hiei and the masked fighter standing near the back of the group.

The nurse smiled sweetly, "You two…will you please follow me?" she said gesturing them towards a medical tent set up just beneath the stands. Mai felt her stomach jolt unexpectedly; when had that appeared?She could have sworn thatit wasn't there during their fight with Ichigaki(and it couldn't have possibly gottn up thatquickly).Besides that, hadn't she noticed how beat up Kuwabara was?

She could tell that Hiei was even suspicious of the nurse; Genkai's reaction on the other hand was not readable through her mask. But as the woman began to turn back towards the tent, she stopped suddenly and turned back towards the guardian, still smiling her sickly sweet smile.

"Would you care to come with me, miss?" she asked. Mai suddenly tensed, and without saying a word, she shook her head defiantly. She didn't care how innocent she looked on the outside, something wasn't right about her, and she wasn't willing to test that theory. In any case, the guardian had grown accustom to her body healing quicker than others…

"No," she said and shook her head again, "I've never been too keen on doctors…" she lied coldly and she saw a flash of suspicion cross the nurse's violet eyes. She held the guardian's gaze a moment longer before softly shrugging her off and heading back towards the tent with Hiei and the masked fighter following warily behind. Mai glanced up to the stands above and the box seats that sat higher; whatever the hell the committee was planning, she didn't like it.

"Koenma sir…Why do you think Miss Mai wouldn't go with the nurse?" Jorge asked as he watched the red-haired vixen cross over the sidelines towards the tent with Hiei and Genkai.

He shrugged, "Beats me…she sure could use the help though; she's not looking much better than Yusuke…"

The ogre frowned slightly as he peered a little further through the window, "Then again, she completely ignored Kuwabara…"

For a moment, Koenma watched the nurse as she settled in a folding chair beneath the tent with a clipboard in hand. Then his gaze drifted back towards the guardian who watched her with a mix of unease and distaste. It seemed odd to him, that she was the only one of the team acting wary against the nurse—except for Hiei, but then again, he was mostly wary of everyone.

"You should go nurse the baka over there…" Hiei muttered to the woman in front of him who continued to make several marks on the clipboard in her lap, "He's in a worse condition than us."

She smiled sweetly and glanced up from her work, "Oh, but his wounds aren't nearly as interesting as yours…" she looked back down at the work in her hands and made another note, "But I'm afraid you'll both have to stay here until you heal and are healthy again."

When the nurse looked back up at them, Hiei clenched his fist around his katana; a devious glint swept across her eyes and the apparition didn't care for it at all. The masked fighter must have sensed the same thing coming from the woman and tensed. But as they both turned to leave, a sudden surge of electricity swept through them as they stood frozen to the spot; the energy holding them in place.

Smirking, the nurse easily stepped through the barrier while the apparition and Genkai staggered backwards with the trails of energy still wrapping around their bodies. She clasped onto the corner of her uniform and suddenly threw it off revealing her true form.

"The dirty slut!" Mai shouted angrily and Kurama blinked at her sudden outburst, "Dammit I knew there was something screwed up about her!"

The nurse heard her cry and turned to face the rest of the Urameshi team, "I'm sorry I didn't introduce myself before…My name is Ruka; enchantress and master of defense enchantments, like the one you see here…" she added coolly whilst motioning towards the force-field surrounded the tent trapping Hiei and the masked fighter.

"Isn't there anything in the rulebook against this!" Botan demanded up at Koto—who was looking just as surprised as the rest of the audience.

"Ah…well….since they technically went of their own free will, I don't think there is anything opposing it—"

Mai nearly jumped onto the ring, "'Opposing it'? _Opposing it!_ She just trapped them in a damn barrier! It was a dirty trick!" Both Kurama and Yusuke had to hold her back before she could jump up and strangle the fox demon.

"Calm down, Mai—! Ow! Don't kick me!" the detective shouted and gritted his teeth, "Dammit, I'm not any happier than you are about this, but we can't really do anything about it! That committee can go fuck themselves for all I care!"

The guardian clenched her fists unhappily and inwardly cursed at the tournament committee sitting smugly up in their box seats. After a moment, she relaxed slightly and let her fist drop to her side, but the furry burning in her eyes did not leave.

"Hiei and the masked fighter weren't in any shape to fight anyway…" Kurama put gently, "We should at least be thankful that they weren't hurt…if anything, it will give Team Masho a false security to lean on…"

Across from them Jin watched the team and their two captured team members. After a moment, he shrugged and placed his hands behind his head and leisurely walked over towards the wall beneath the stands. He plopped down on the ground and closed his eyes as if taking a nap. One of his teammates noticed him and turned.

"What are you doing?" they asked, "Aren't you going to fight?"

The wind demon shrugged again, "Nah, I'm havin' ta' change my mind if it's goin to be a fix like that. I don't give damn, somebody else go…"

Amongst their team, the cloaked fighters muttered to one another as to who would fight first. They made no gesticulations or anything of the sort, but merely stood and discussed quietly within their group. There was a pause, and Kurama, Yusuke and Mai watched as one of the taller fighters stepped forward. And—like Jin—shed his cloak and jumped into the ring. This new foe was nearly as pale as ice and was rather gangly. He wore a green type of bandana and a kilt-like garment around his waist.

Yusuke slammed his fist into his palm in anticipation, "This guy's mine; I'm _way_ too pissed off right now…I need something to beat the crap out of…"

As he took a step towards the ring, Kurama quickly placed a hand on the detective's shoulder to stop him, "Yusuke, we have to be careful; with three of our fighters gone we have to make sure we can make it through this match alive…" he paused for a moment, "I'll go first…when I go down, either you or Mai can take my place."

"Kurama-kun…" the guardian whispered quietly as she came to stand next to the two boys. She bit her lip worriedly before she slowly slipped her hands around his middle and leaned her head against his chest, "Please be careful…"

He smiled gently and nodded. Releasing him, Mai stepped back and watched him move onto the ring. As both fighters drew to the center of the ring, Koto glanced one at each of them before addressing the crowd around her.

"The first fight: Kurama from team Urameshi vs. Gama of team Masho!" she announced, and then dropped her hand, "Let the match begin!"

Kurama readied himself as his opponent took his own position. Along the sidelines, the guardian folded her arms uneasily as she watched the two fighters stare one another down.

"Look, Mai…" Urameshi began, "He'll be fine…"

She bit her lip gently, "I know he will; it's just that…he spends too much time trying to understand his opponents. At times this can be an advantage, but sometimes I don't think it's the right way to go…"

Across from him, Gama smirked as he pulled from his pocket a pair of slender paint brushes, "Do you know where the origins of makeup came from?" he inquired casually, and paused as if waiting for a reply, but the redhead didn't answer, "…In any case…" he continued as he took one of the brushes in his hand and began to trail it along his arm leaving a painted pattern behind, "Humans tainted its original purpose; using it to cover up their flaws and make themselves prettier…"

He snorted at the thought as he continued to drag the two paint brushes over his body. Kurama tensed when a sudden chill swept through him. There was a demonic aura beginning to form around the fighter as he continued to draw the obscure patterns over his arms and face. Even as Gama had finished speaking, there was an eerie purple haze forming around his body.

The moment the demon's brush stopped, he clenched both in his hands and glared back at the redhead. In another instant, Gama suddenly charged at him with a surprising amount of agility. He threw a punch at Kurama's face, but the redhead easily stepped aside of the attack.

Mai closed her eyes slowly, "His energy barely extends outside of his body; he gets his strength from the markings," she said referring to Gama.

The detective beside her blinked, "How do you figure that?"

For a moment she stared at the two fighters along the ring before she glanced back towards him and gave him a curious smile while she tapped the side of her head with a finger, "It's a matter of using your head, Yusuke," she told him matter-of-factly, "You should try it sometime…"

Urameshi scowled, but she didn't seem to be bothered by it. Behind Ruka's barrier, Hiei frowned darkly as he watched Kurama dodging all of his opponent's attacks. So this Gama was a close-combat fighter…he furrowed his brow; if he kept trying to avoid all of his attacks, it could get dangerous for Kurama…

Gama leapt backwards suddenly and whipped out both of the paint brushes. The redhead eyed them warily; not entirely sure what he was up to…But before he could comprehend what the demon was getting ready to do, he charged again, only this time, he was not planning on attacking Kurama the same way. Swiftly, Gama whipped one of the brushes out in front of him where a splatter of paint flew into the air.

Kurama attempted to jump out of the way, but his leg was struck in his place. Almost immediately, he fell back to the ground with a curious thud. The redhead glanced down suspiciously at his left ankle where a twisted design now glowed a dull purple color.

He stood and took a step forward with his right foot and then attempted with his left. Mai noticed with a start that he had to drag it across the floor to make it move, and even so, he winced painfully in the process.

"It's heavy, isn't it?" Gama sneered in amusement, "It just happens to be one of my favorite techniques; it makes it feel as if you're being held down by an enormous weight…"

The redhead gritted his teeth through the pain, but not before his opponent raced at him once more. Kurama tried to dodge out of the way, but his foot tripped him and he stumbled. Gama raised the paint brush once more above his head and slashed down as if it were a sword. He winced, trying to endure the weight that dragged his body down. Squinting, he was able to make out three more of the patterns along his remaining ankle and arms.

Amazingly, Kurama was able to remain standing despite the weight on him. For a moment, the demon stepped back to admire his work and smirked.

"The Makeup of Chains…" he explained coolly, "Over two-thousand pounds are now attached to your limbs, making it quite impossible to move, don't you say?"

Along the sidelines, Yusuke gritted his teeth, "Damn…if Kurama dies now, we're finished—"

"Don't say that!" Mai scolded him and the detective turned only to find fearful tears building in her eyes. He blinked in surprise and his expression softened a little bit, "He's not going to die!" she insisted and wiped at her tears irritably. Urameshi watched her for a moment longer before he nodded in his understanding and started to turn back to the ring.

"Right, I didn't mean it like that…" he said as gently as he could. But even though he told her this, he knew that he wasn't all too sure himself whether or not Kurama would make it out of the ring alive. Hell, he could hardly move, let alone defend himself.

Gama sneered at the redhead's defenseless stature and calmly placed both paint brushes into his pocket, as if savoring the moment of his victory. Kurama said nothing, but watched the demon carefully, his eyes narrowed in concentration. The painter stepped back a few paces and watched his opponent smugly before his right hand clenched into a fist, his energy once again charging up around him.

Then, the demon charged at Kurama; his fist blazing an eerie purple color as he raced towards him. Mai started to close her eyes; she didn't want to see him hurt. But before she could, a flash caught her eyes on the arena and she quickly turned back. Strips of energy were suddenly wrapping themselves around Gama, until they drove into his flesh and spurts of blood suddenly erupted over his body.

"What the hell…?" she murmured to herself, but then she noticed Kurama still standing exactly where he had been moments earlier. Yet, his rose whip had suddenly entwined itself through his hair and hovered around him for only a second more. Gama collapsed to his knees while his purple blood spilled out onto the arena beneath him. He stared in disbelief and the redhead standing in front of him.

"It…it can't be…" he whispered, "How could I have failed…?"

"Only an amateur depends on his arms and legs for a victory…" Kurama stated coolly while never taking his eyes off of his opponent, "The rose whip was merely controlled by my hair…"

Gama gritted his teeth and looked as though he was about to say more, but before he could even utter a word, his body crumpled onto the ground. A silent pool of his purple blood slowly enveloped his body as Koto stepped back towards the center of the ring starting her ten-count. Even so, it was evident that Gama would not rise again.

One by one the seconds ticked by until the fox demon held her hand aloft and announced, "Ten! The winners of the first fight…Team Urameshi!"

But the redhead continued to stand in the ring, waiting for the next fight to come at him. Desperately, Mai moved towards the edge of the ring.

"Kurama-kun, please come down; I'll fight the next match!" she pleaded, but he seemed unwilling to go back to the sidelines.

"Yeah, Kurama…" Urameshi added while coming to stand next to the guardian, "You won't be doing much good up there if you can't move…"

For a second, it seemed as though the redhead would continue to ignore them, but then he turned his head slowly and smiled almost sadly, "I guess that wouldn't help us, would it?" he asked, but then his expression darkened as he limped off of the platform towards the sidelines. The guardian held out her arm to him to help him down off of the ring.

"So which one of you will go next?" Botan asked from where she knelt beside Kazuma. Both Yusuke and Mai studied one another as if mentally debating who would fight.

There was a pause, "I'll go," the guardian told him shortly, "By then Kurama should be able to move at least a little more…and then you two will be able to finish out the match…"

Yusuke and Kurama glanced at one another briefly. It was apparent that neither of them wanted her to fight at all, but on the other hand, what she had to say was true. If the detective were to fight now, he would have little strength left to fight some of their stronger opponents, and since Kurama was hardly capable of moving, it was certainly out the question that he should fight.

There was an uneasy silence before Botan's voice shattered it:

"Oh, for heaven's sake! Just let the girl fight!" she told them harshly. Urameshi eyed the ferry girl unhappily before he folded his arms over his chest and stared off to the side and down at the ground.

"Fine," he said quietly. After another pause he added with a weak thumbs-up, "Just don't get yourself killed, okay?"

Gripping Kira's staff, the girl nodded and grinned reassuringly and nimbly hopped onto the ring to confront the next fighter. While her back was turned to them, Kurama turned his eyes on the detective warily.

"Do you think that was wise, Yusuke?" he asked quietly, "This is the first time she's battled on her own…"

Urameshi shrugged casually, "I'm not doubting her too much; if she puts her mind to it, she could beat the crap out of anyone she wants…" he hooded his eyes for a moment, "She can be a bit oblivious to some things, though, can't she?" he added with a weak smile.

Mai felt her blood pounding in her ears as she stood on the ring. For some reason, she felt suddenly alone; she hadn't realized how large the arena was until she was standing there by herself. The thunderous crowd around her sent the earth shaking and she had to place her staff in the ground to remain steady. Across the ring, she saw one of the cloaked figures stepping forward. And as they jumped into the ring, they too shed their cloak to reveal themselves.

The demon appeared hardly any taller than Mai, and didn't seem any older. His light blue hair had been sleeked back, leaving four aqua-green strands hanging in front of his cold blue eyes. As he stepped onto the ring, the guardian suddenly felt an icy blast of wind sweep over the platform and she shuddered. From within Ruka's tent, Hiei started unexpectedly when he had caught a glimpse of the apparition on the stage. Quickly, he turned towards Yusuke standing back along the sidelines.

"The detective would be smart to get her out of the ring right now," he muttered to himself darkly. Snorting, Hiei folded his arms and muttered, "They may as well been better off with Kurama fighting this match…"

"I wouldn't underestimate her…" the masked fighter told him quietly while keeping her eyes locked on the two fighters on the arena; recognizing the demon herself, "Touya may be a master of ice…but the previous masters of the Shinobi have chosen poorly for their successors…"

In the stands above them, a single male with shoulder-length, black hair sat watching the ring with a bitter interest. A puff of smoke drifted up leisurely from the cigarette in his mouth. He sat amidst the howling demons calmly as he folded his arms of his chest. From behind him, another man approached from the stairwell and stood next to the first, but before he could speak, the black-haired male spoke.

"It's a bit of a disappointment that you had to cheat, Butajiri…Personally, the fight would have been a bit more interesting if it had been evenly matched…"

The man blinked at him, before he quickly regained his composure and authority, "You have to admit, Sakyo, those punks got what they deserved after killing off Tarukane; that bastard still owed us all money!"

Sakyo said nothing, but blew another billow of smoke into the air in front of him. He supposed it was plausible that they would think Urameshi killed the mafia boss…Thoughit really hadn't given him any pleasure at all to watch Toguro kill Tarukane himself…

Touya briefly glanced at Gama's body lying nearby and then back to the guardian standing in front of him. He said nothing, but she could tell by the look in his eyes that he was definitely not pleased with his teammate being killed. Mai sent him an equally intense glare while handling Kira's staff in front of her. The chilling breeze would not relent, however, and continued to whip around her causing her skin to crawl.

"Don't think I'll go easy on you because you're a girl…" the ice master informed her after an uneasy silence.

The guardian gritted her teeth, "I wasn't planning on it," she replied shortly as Koto approached the center of the ring and glanced between the two fighters.

"Fighting for the next fight: Touya from team Masho and Mai from team Urameshi!" she announced to the crowd, "Let the next match begin!"

Mai drove Kira's staff into the ground next to her as the ice apparition clenched his fists at his side. But before she could release the slightest amount of energy, the icy wind began to whip around her violently. Her crimson hair blew in front of her eyes and she had to brush it back with one hand to keep her sight on Touya. The guardian shuddered suddenly when his energy erupted from around him.

She staggered abruptly when the ground beneath her began to tremble. When she turned her gaze upwards once more, she noticed with a start that a pale-blue pillar of light was surrounding the apparition and rose into the sky where the dark and omniscient clouds began to gather. She could hear the waves surrounding the island groaning as they crashed heavily onto the shores.

Steadily, the guardian felt the frigged cold weighing down upon her…and it was then that she noticed that icy fog sweeping over the arena. Along her arms, patches of frost began to spread as the freezing air swept around her. Unexpectedly, she sensed her body weakening as the haze enveloped both of them and the ring, on instinct, she wrapped her arms around her abdomen. It was draining…whatever Touya was doing it was almost draining her of energy…

Beneath her feet, Mai started slightly when she caught sight of traces of ice etching along the crevices of the tiled flooring. It spread outwards from Touya and out to the corners of the ring behind them. Her breath billowed out in front of her and her teeth began to chatter incessantly. She wasn't used to this type of cold; it wasn't like being out in the winter without a coat; this type of cold was different, almost as though she was drowning in Touya's energy.

Mai could feel his energy growing from his surroundings and she cursed herself inwardly; of all the techniques it had to be ice—she was too damn clumsy on ice!

In front of her, the ice apparition had switched his stance and now his fists were clenched at his side where they gave off an eerie sea-green light. Mai clenched her teeth while trying to endure the cold, and saw—as Touya's energy continued to mount—tiny crystals appeared around his body as if drawn to its power.

Shakily, the guardian raised her hands in front of her; her limbs already stiffened by the icy cold. She placed one hand in the other while her index finger pointed outwards at the ice apparition. But when Touya noticed her position, his stance changed immediately, and before Mai could fire off her attack, the demon snatched the crystals out of the air with his hand. Suddenly, he started running parallel to her and quickly, the guardian followed after.

Neither of them took their eyes off of the other—and prior to the guardian raising her hands once more, Touya skidded to a halt suddenly. His unexpected stop caused her to slide briefly over the sheet of ice beneath her feet. She cursed harshly as she was thrown off balance. The ice apparition took this moment to suddenly toss the shards clenched in his hand at the girl left defenseless. Caught off guard, Mai scrambled to her feet and hurled her body out of the way…just enough—at least—so that only her ankle took in part of the attack. She winced as she felt the crystals draw blood and the icy cold air around her added on to the sting.

Swiftly raising herself to one knee, she once again formed her hands so that her index finger was directed at Touya.

"Spirit Gun!" she cried and waited for the blast to charge towards the ice apparition…

And waited…

_No…way…_

And waited…

There was a tense pause…just as a small spark flickered at the end of her finger, releasing an awkward _Pfft_ noise as it drifted to the ground and faded.

Those along the sidelines sweatdropped uneasily (even Touya had a tough time concealing the sweatdrop that formed along the side of his face). Mai stared down at her hand in disbelief as her mouth hung gaping in awe and fear.

"Dammit, that's not good!" she cried just as the ice apparition regained his senses and began to charge at the guardian once again. Quickly, she jumped back to her feet and made a mad dash towards Kira's staff as she let out a quick, "Eep!"

Yusuke clenched his fists as he watched both fighters along the ring, "What the hell was that!" he demanded, "Why couldn't she use her spirit gun!"

The redhead standing beside him clutched his side slightly and saw how Mai was just barely able to grab onto her staff and roll out of the way of another one of Touya's attacks. He hadn't seen her use any of her spirit powers at all the entire tournament; she couldn't possibly have been drained by fighting Ichigaki's team, could she?

Back beneath Ruka's tent, Genkai's brow furrowed and she hooded her eyes. _Damn…_she thought; she should have known better than to let her fight after the other night; she hadn't completely healed after all…Hell, her body was still getting used to the new space she had to contemplate her energy. Not to mention that the capability of her fire powers only extended so far…and Touya's now outmatched the guardian's.

Mai held onto Kira's staff for dear life as she dashed across the platform and out of the reach of the apparition's attacks. Dammit, why couldn't she use her spirit gun! It wasn't like she was holding back like she was with Ichigaki's team; it wasn't as though she was trying to totally hide her spirit energy this time…

Wait a minute…

Quickly, she dodged another attack from her opponent. She had been letting her energy come out little by little…it hadn't occurred to her until now that…that maybe she couldn't attack with that much energy at once, at least not at the moment…

Oh shit.

"Shards of Winter!" Touya shouted suddenly catching her off guard. Without noticing, the guardian had stopped and left herself to a full-frontal attack. By the time she came to the realization that his attack was coming, she had no where to go in time to dodge. Gritting her teeth, the guardian held her staff out in front of her and closed her eyes. _Come on…_she pleaded, _please put up a barrier!_

She suddenly cried out in pain as each of the tiny crystals drove through her flesh, and those that didn't grazed her skin leaving deep wounds. Some of the shards had even struck with so much force that they reappeared through her back. Mai gritted her teeth against the pain and dropped Kira's staff with a clatter and she fell to her knees. Her hands wrapped around her abdomen as she felt her warm, sticky blood beneath her fingers. Quietly, she let a small whimper of pain escape her lips and she clenched her eyes shut.

"Dammit, Mai!" Yusuke roared from the sidelines, "Stay down, I'll take over for you!"

Defiantly she shook her head and shakily rose to her feet. The detective cursed angrily, but she ignored him. The guardian clenched her teeth and gripped her staff until her knuckles turned white; why wasn't this working! Angrily, she suddenly drove the point of the rod into the ground beneath her while she closed her eyes. _Please…_she begged now, _please do something…_but the same something told her that nothing would; she could feel it draining through her; she was too weak…

Unexpectedly she felt tears beginning to form beneath her eyelids from her desperation.

_Come on!_ She suddenly put all of her strength into trying to call her energy. If it hadn't been for Genkai stopping her before, she would have used her spirit powers not a half hour ago! So what the hell was wrong with her!

The masked fighter folded her hands quietly behind her back. Mai had held back all that power for so long that she had suddenly forgotten how to call it back…Her body was too weak to muster up enough concentration to create any attack. Genkai's eyes darkened suddenly as she cursed inwardly; she shouldn't have let her fight…especially against an ice master like Touya. But if the guardian didn't remember how to use her powers…there wouldn't be much they could help her with—

Touya's pale blue eyes flashed, "Even if you are a girl…I still expected a better fight than this; was that little spark you created earlier all you had to offer?"

He didn't give her time to respond; however, already the ice apparition snatched another handful of the ice crystals from the air around him. Mai gritted her teeth in anticipation as she jumped back to her feet as quickly as she could muster.

Once more, the guardian screamed as the shards of ice penetrated her flesh. She had started the momentum to run again, but the force of the apparition's attack sent her tumbling forward onto the arena floor. It was as if he was driving daggers into her; despite their size, it was agonizing…her cheek skidded into the ground and created dull scratches along her face while she continued to clutch at her bloody abdomen. Mai could feel the crimson liquid seeping through her trembling fingers. Irritably, she clenched her fist and struggled to raise herself to her knees.

But Touya's attack came once more and sent her sprawling back onto the ring. Her body tumbled over itself as her wounds smeared blood onto the tile flooring.

"Mai!"

_I'm fine, Yusuke…_she wanted to say, but she couldn't her body trembled and she felt the color draining from her face. She closed her eyes, trying to absorb the pain; trying to make it go away…but it wouldn't leave…it _wouldn't_ go away…

There was a wound across her other cheek now…and slowly she felt its blood trickling slowly down the side of her face and beneath her chin; almost as though it were a bloody tear…like those the Ichigaki team had cried earlier. Mai panted heavily and watched as her breath billowed out in a chilly cloud. One of the shards had probably grazed a lung…she could hear—from her rattling breath—the blood beginning to fill within her chest.

Touya's padded footsteps quietly walked towards her and stopped a few feet away. Weakly, she raised her eyes to him as she tried desperately to lift her body with her free hand. His pale blue eyes flashed when he saw the blood staining her hand and beads of sweat forming along her brow.

"Well I have to admit…" he started, "You may not have any attack-power, but you sure do have a lot of stamina to survive that many blows at once—"

The guardian suddenly whipped her leg out from beneath her, attempting to catch the ice master off guard. But Touya nimbly leapt above it without so much as an effort as Mai cried out after straining to use her strength. Her body curled up as her wounds opened further. Quietly, she whimpered past the pain and trembled as she raised herself to one hand.

He jumped back a few paces to a safe distance while the girl remained along the frozen earth, panting heavily, "You shouldn't waste your energy on those useless attempts…" he informed her bluntly, "You can still back down; let another one of your teammates take over…maybe then I'll have a challenge."

"Shut up!" Mai shouted and clenched her eyes shut as she tried to force back her tears, "Just SHUT UP!"

Only a few yards away, Kira's staff suddenly began to quiver. The dull rattling of its metal against the tile flooring alerted both fighters. The guardian watched wide-eyed as the rod continued to rock back and forth violently…_what…what the hell?_ No more than an instant later, the staff suddenly shot out of the ground and hurtled towards the girl, and on instinct, she raised her hand and caught it on its flight path.

Along the sidelines, Botan blinked, "What was that?" she asked to no one in particular, "I thought she couldn't use her spirit energy."

"Maybe that was her plan all…all along…" Kuwabara grunted next to her, "…To make him think that she couldn't fight back…"

Kurama shook his head slowly, "I don't think that was what she intended…I haven't been able to sense her powers until just now and even then…even then they were still weak; as if she hadn't truly meant to use them…" he hooded his eyes briefly, "Something's not right; her powers shouldn't be locked up like this…Mai's been hiding her energy thus far, but it's almost as if she's forgotten how to use it…"

The detective turned to him, "What makes you think she's been hiding it?"

He smiled hollowly, "If she hadn't, I'm sure she would have taken out her anger on Ichigaki long before you or Kuwabara contacted your own spirit energy…"

The masked fighter watched the fighting duo darkly, "Her energy is building up…" she stated quietly and Hiei turned his head towards her.

"What do you mean by that?" he demanded as he folded his arms over his chest.

"I mean…" Genkai continued softly, "Mai is unable to find a way to contact her energy; therefore letting it slowly mount within her," she paused momentarily, "That was merely a tiny fraction of her powers leaking out…If she can't release it soon, it will eventually find a way out on its own in a much greater force."

The apparition focused his attention back on the match, "Why can't she use it in the first place?" he questioned, suddenly concerned; if the onna couldn't contact her energy—and it eventually exploded out of her—she would be left defenseless and open to any one of Touya's attacks.

"She's weak," the woman explained, "Not to mention the fact that the sheer cold she's experiencing within that ring may be too much for her; since she specializes in fire it would make sense that Touya's ice attacks could have a weakening effect on her," Genkai went on, leaving out that the majority of her weakness came from their training session. Then she frowned, "I'm afraid to see what the results of this match may bring…"

Touya stared at the staff in her hands warily; even if it had just been a small amount energy he had just sensed, it was enough to make him suddenly cautious of his opponent. The ice apparition frowned then and clenched his fists at his sides; it had been enough to let him know that he couldn't let her contact it again. His pale blue eyes glinted dangerously as the guardian shakily stood to her feet using Kira's staff as support.

He glanced to the shards hovering in the air around him and in an instant, his hand held the tiny ice crystals in his fist; there were only so many hits she could take…and he had a feeling that it couldn't be much more…

"Shards of Winter!" he cried out again and hurled the tiny shards at the girl.

Clutching her stomach, she tried desperately to dodge out of the way. Her weary body was dragging her; slowing her down…she wouldn't make it out of the way in time. Tears of fear filled her eyes as she forced Kira's staff out in front of her, watching helplessly as the dagger-like crystals hurtled towards her. She saw their blades glinting in the dull light and already she could feel them piercing her flesh. Suddenly, she realized that she wouldn't be able to stand through another attack like that and her fear mounted swiftly.

They were closing in and the guardian shook her head defiantly; she wouldn't go down—not yet—she _couldn't _go down! But even so, she knew that there would be no way to avoid Touya's attack now that it was racing towards her.

'_Don't let me die, Yusuke…'_

'_Then hold on…hold on for just a little while longer…'_

"Yu…Yusuke..." she murmured as she watched her doom charging towards her, "Don't…don't let me die…not yet…"

"Get out of the way, Mai!"

The guardian suddenly dropped the staff onto the tiled flooring with a dull clatter. Her body was flung backwards by the force of Touya's attack as spurts of blood protruded from her newly formed wounds.

There was a moment when both Yusuke and Kurama felt as though time stood still, and Mai's body remained frozen in the air bleeding and stained with the crimson liquid. Both of them were able to detect an eerie serenity in her eyes as she stared dully at the sky above.

'_Do you know what snow becomes Yusuke…? It becomes spring…no matter what, year after year, winter always yields to spring…_

'_It always becomes spring…'_

And that same snow was what she saw hovering in the air around her…piercing her very flesh…This type of snow would yield to a new spring; one she hadn't yet experienced…

Even though she didn't want to…even though she knew she had no choice…

She openly let the darkness sweep over her…

:-

_Rain pelted dully against the window pane as thunder rolled in the distance. Mai's chin rested lazily in her palm. Gods, how she hated the rain—snow she could handle, rain she couldn't. Genkai sat on the couch nearby with her eyes dragging leisurely over the pages of the book in her lap. It surprised her that she hadn't taken Yusuke to beat the crap out of him in training today._

_She heard the front door open and close suddenly and she tilted her head towards the newcomers. Botan and Keiko shook off their umbrellas as they appeared in the doorway followed by a drenched Kuwabara. Kurama entered the room shortly afterwards while a rather sullen-looking Hiei trailed after him._

"_We had to keep him out of trouble somehow," Minamino explained while grinning nervously as the apparition looked as though he was ready to kill someone._

"_Yeah…and Kazuma wasn't paying much attention when we were crossing the street…" Botan added as she observed the sodden redhead, "And, well, a car drove into a puddle in front of him and…erm…got him all wet…"_

_Yusuke now entered the room and caught a glimpse of Kuwabara. His face contorted as he tried to conceal his fits of laughter—but failed, "Bwahahaha!" only to receive a quick smack to the arm by Keiko, "Don't be so rude!"_

_The guardian smiled slightly as she removed herself from the window, "So what's the occasion?" she asked above Urameshi's suppressed giggles._

_Botan beamed suddenly, "How 'bout a nice friendly game of Truth or Dare?" she chirped and Mai could swear she noticed Hiei pale as if someone had just written his death sentence. Even Genkai—as she closed her book—appeared as though these teens were moments away from driving her insane._

"_So!" the ferry girl chimed as she plopped onto the couch a seat over from Mai and Keiko. The rest of the team found their seats around the room—save for Hiei who found a corner to stand in, "Who wants to start us off?"_

_Yusuke—who was still trying to conceal his laughter raised his hand to volunteer, "Haha, okay…um…" his eyes caught sight of the apparition in the corner, "Truth or dare, Hiei?" he asked placing his hands behind his head._

_He sent the detective a murderous glare and it almost looked as though he wouldn't answer him until he muttered a dark, "Truth…"_

_Urameshi tapped his chin thoughtfully before his eyes brightened, "Okay…is it true that you have an obsession with sweet-snow?"_

_The apparition glowered maliciously and muttered something under his breath that sounded oddly like a 'yes'. Bursts of laughter echoed cheerfully through the room as Hiei seemed to recede further into the shadows._

_Botan wiped a jolly tear from her eye, "Well since it doesn't look as though Hiei is willing to go next…Keiko how 'bout you go?" she asked the brunette next to her._

"_Alright!" she agreed and glanced around the room, "Um...Kazuma, truth or dare?"_

_The redhead confidently placed his hands behind his head, "Dare," he challenged; after all it was only Keiko, how bad could her dare be?_

_He soon learned after a few minutes that it could be. Keiko and Botan couldn't suppress their giggles as they emerged from a nearby room with Kuwabara sulking behind. Another roar of laughter filled the air when they caught sight of Kazuma plastered with bright red lipstick and a heavy amount of eye-shadow. Even Hiei managed a smug little grin from his corner and Genkai snorted in her own amusement. _

_Yusuke jumped up from his seat and placed an arm around the redhead's shoulder, "Well looky here!" he exclaimed teasingly, "We're going to have a hard time hooking someone up with a cutie like you!"_

"_Shut it Urameshi!" Kuwabara growled as he slumped back to his seat, "Besides, it's my turn!" he stated as he folded his arms over his chest, thinking to himself. After a moment, he snapped his fingers, "Mai! Truth or dare?"_

_The guardian glanced at Kazuma warily, "Dare, I guess…"_

_There was a devious glint in his eyes that even made Hiei shudder, "I dare you…" he said slowly, "To dance around the room topless—!"_

_Both Kurama and Yusuke jumped out of their seats and slammed their fists into the redhead's skull the moment the words escaped his mouth._

"_Damn letch," the detective muttered, "Choose another dare—that's not perverted!" he added hastily, as Kazuma made a comment about Kurama being surprisingly violent._

"_Okay…" Kuwabara though another moment longer, "I dare you…" he snickered as the idea came to him, "I dare you to kiss Urameshi!"_

"_WHAT!" both Mai and the detective shouted in unison._

"_I can't do that—!" Yusuke cried._

"_I would never kiss Urameshi!"_

_The detective suddenly froze and blinked. He turned towards the guardian, folding his arms over his chest, "What do you mean 'you would never kiss me'? Are you trying to imply something, Mai?" he demanded._

_She stared at him, "What! No! It's just that I—I mean…I can't…" she stammered and her face burned a bright red. She cast her eyes downwards to hide her embarrassment._

"_I dared you, Mai; you have to do it! Either that, or you're welcomed to kiss me!" Kuwabara grinned smugly just as the guardian sent him a dangerous glare. Gods, Kazuma was in for it bad when it was her turn, she noted mentally. She could tell Yusuke was a feeling a bit awkward with the situation as well; Keiko and Kurama both had a clear view of the pair and neither Mai nor Urameshi felt compelled to kiss right in front of them._

"_Whatever," the detective muttered, "Let's just get this over with…"_

_She managed a meek nod as her face continued to match the color of her hair, "O-Okay…" she mumbled and bit her lip, quickly glanced around the room, but for some reason, her vision couldn't focus; all she heard was her pounding heart in her ears. _

_It felt awkward to kiss him; after all, she was his guardian…but that wasn't the entire reason. Around her, she could hear everyone else giggling. And then suddenly she felt her heart drop to her stomach; as if she had just committed a terrible sin…_

_With an agonizing jolt…She suddenly realized something…_

(a/n: if any of you are wondering why I didn't go into much detail here…er, well I guess you'll find out…)

:-

"Four!" Koto shouted through the microphone.

Yusuke clenched his fists at his side, _Come on, Mai…get up already!_ But still the guardian didn't stir. Her violet-speckled eyes remained partially open and distant; almost in a state of death…He felt his nails digging into his palm as his fist began to shake slightly.

"Get up…" he whispered so quietly that not even Kurama heard him, "Please, Mai…"

The guardian continued to stare out into the empty void in front of her. Her eyes were glazed and unblinking…oblivious to the world around her. But in her mind she heard every word, every whisper around her. It wasn't as though she was able to do anything about it, though…her bleeding body trembled as Koto neared the end of her count.

Touya stood in front of her, simply waiting. Mai could almost feel his confidence pulsating from him; he knew she wouldn't be able to get up in time. She hated that. She hated how he didn't take her seriously and thought of it as a silly game she was trying to win…

"Five!"

Urameshi gritted his teeth, "Get up off your sorry ass, dammit!" he roared suddenly and without really realizing it, he charged towards the edge of the ring, "Don't tell me you've given up already!"

He could see her sapphire eyes staring blankly towards him while her blood quietly stained her precious body.

_Yusuke…_

He started suddenly and his eyes flashed towards her hand lying out in front of her. Weakly, her slender fingers began to move, slowly folding into her palm. When the detective switched his attention back up to her face he noticed that she began to blink towards him; returning from her death-like state. She stared at him for a moment…and he could have sworn he saw tears filling her eyes as she feebly wrapped her fingers around Kira's staff once more.

"Mai…let me go in for you!" he pleaded, "Just stay down and let her finish her count—!"

Slowly, she shook her head, "No, Yusuke…" she murmured while she just managed to partially lift her body onto her forearm, "No…let me finish this…"

"Are you crazy!" he demanded as the fear became evident in his voice, "If you keep taking hits like that you won't make it out alive!"

But she shook her head again, and would not look at him again. _I'm sorry, Yusuke…_She had to finish the fight; she had to figure out what was wrong with her and find a way to contact her energy…

Grasping her staff, she carefully planted it into the tile flooring and trembled as she clasped both hands around its cool metal. The blood staining her fingers trickled down the gold rod while she placed one foot out in front of her, lifting herself slowly from the ground.

"Seven—!" Koto cut herself off when she noticed the guardian struggling to her feet. Touya's brow furrowed darkly as he watched the girl across from him.

"You don't know when to stay down, do you?" he muttered, suddenly irritated, but the girl said nothing. The ice apparition started unexpectedly when he noticed the sudden fury burning in her eyes and he took a wary step backwards. Mai winced then, when a brief wave of pain coursed through her…but it was not from her bleeding wounds. Her blood pounded harshly in her ears, and she felt a stab of pain race through her chest.

Genkai furrowed her brow when she noticed the girl's grimace…her powers were building up immensely fast; at a continuous rate like that, she wouldn't be able to contain it any longer…She needed to release her energy soon; this is what she had been trying to avoid from the beginning. If Mai's body couldn't hold that power, it would rip her apart.

The guardian clutched her bleeding abdomen with a free hand as her body continued to tremble. Touya glared at her darkly and made an agitated grunt while he raised his hand in front of him. He cried out as his energy erupted around him and the icy wind whipped around his feet. Tendrils of light snaked around him and traveled along his arm until they had completely enveloped his limb. There was a brief flash of light and afterwards, Mai blinked and stared—with her fists clenching—at the blade of ice that now encased his arm.

"You should have let your friend take over for you…" he growled menacingly, "Because the next time you go down—you're not getting back up!"

She started suddenly as the ice master vanished momentarily. Desperately, she searched over the arena for him, but he continued to flash in and out of her view. But it was then that her senses prickled abruptly and swiftly, she whirled and raised Kira's staff over her head just as Touya's sword was ready to come down on her head. Mai gritted her teeth as she struggled to hold up against the apparition's attack.

The duo stood frozen there. Touya remained hovering in the air above her as the guardian whimpered against the pain. The ice master glared at her fiercely and she returned with as much fire burning in her eyes.

"What will you wish for if you win the tournament?" Mai asked suddenly, her voice but a whisper.

He blinked, "What?"

"If you win…" she panted, "What will you do with the wish you are given?"

After a moment, Touya smirked as he forced his weight against her staff and pushed himself backwards. The apparition leapt back onto the arena floor a few feet a way and watched as the guardian recovered, "Our wish is to gain control of this island…" he informed her, "We'll use it as our headquarters as little by little we'll take over this world…We have seen glimpses of the light here," he gesticulated casually, "It's addicting you could say…"

Mai frowned in a mix of confusion and pain, "I've…I've heard that the Shinobi live only in the shadows of Makai…what could you possibly want with this world?" she asked softly.

His smirk widened, "You'll soon see…"

With her senses dulled, it took her too long to realize that the apparition had disappeared from her view once again. And too long did she fail to notice his blade driving towards her…Only when she caught the flash of moment at her side did she hurriedly dodge out of the way. But Touya's speed caught her off guard, and with a cry she staggered backwards and crumpled back to her knees, cradling her now bleeding arm. The guardian hissed in pain while she let her fresh wound drench her front in her crimson blood.

She suddenly found tears streaming down her face; what could she do? She had no spirit powers and it became vigorous for her to merely dodge Touya's attacks. But she had to stay and fight…and with a hollow, inward laugh, she realized that it was merely déjà vu from before with Yusuke and Kuwabara; she had to figure out on her own how to contact her energy…no one else would be able to help her…

A sharp pain suddenly prodded at her neck. Blankly, the guardian stared up into Touya's hard eyes as he held his blade of ice directly next to her jugular vein. The stinging cold sent a chill down her spine, but still she continued to hold the ice master's gaze…even though she knew he could see her tears rolling down her cheek.

There was a moment where there was a silence that filled the ring when neither opponent would back down out of their stares. Tension filled the air like a storm, and it even appeared as though bolts of electricity blazed in each other's eyes—

Suddenly the silence was shattered when Mai screamed out in pain.

"That…that bastard…attacking her while she was too weak to defend herself…" Kuwabara muttered weakly.

Kurama frowned however and squinted through the icy mist, "I…I don't think that was from Touya…" he said quietly.

In fact, the apparition's sword had never moved. On the other hand, the guardian was now doubled over and clutching at her stomach fiercely. Her eyes widened in both pain and fear as a sudden wave of agony swept painfully through her, as if ripping her apart. Even Touya seemed a bit frightened at the girl's unexpected cry and watched uncertainly as she writhed in her agony.

Tears of terror filled her eyes suddenly and streamed down the sides of her face…_what…what's going on!_ Her blood felt as though it was boiling within her and a deep throbbing pain swept through her chest…as if there was something trying to break free from within.

"Mai!"

Genkai discreetly clenched her fists at her side; it was too late to take her out of the ring now…though it wasn't as if it would have made much of a difference…Her eyes darkened as she stared vacantly off at the ground; her senses pricked when she sensed the guardian's energy rising drastically. The hairs along the back of her neck stood on end while the girl continued to struggle through her pain; her powers couldn't contain themselves any longer, and if she tried to hang on, they may very well rip her apart…

Yusuke clinched his teeth as he whirled towards Koto, "Get her out of the ring now!" he demanded furiously, "I don't give a damn if you hand them the win, just take her out!"

The fox-demon had been watching Mai warily and she now shakily turned to the detective, "Uh…erm, well since you're the team captain, I-I suppose the decision is up to you—"

Suddenly the guardian let out a blood-curdling scream as sparks of energy crackled along her flesh. Her companions watched on helplessly, not sure of what to do; they, too, were uncertain of what was happening to her—all save for what the masked fighter already knew…

Koenma stared down into the ring incredulously. Like Genkai, he was able to feel the extravagant power suddenly emitting from the girl. He hadn't realized until now how much power she possessed…and yet she wasn't even attempting to use it; it was coming of its own free will. Even so, he saw how much agony she was in; how much she was trying to control it as it exploded out of her…

_I'm dying…oh gods I'm dying…_the guardian thought tearfully to herself as she struggled against the pain. It really did feel as though she was dying; as if the sheer power mounted within her would rip her apart and eat at her body little by little until there was nothing left. She didn't want that to happen! Oh gods, whatever was happening to her, she didn't want it to happen!

Her bleeding hands clutched her head fervently and tore through her hair; as if ripping it out would ease the pain erupting within her body…

_It felt awkward to kiss him; after all, she was his guardian…but that wasn't the entire reason. Around her, she could hear everyone else giggling. And then suddenly she felt her heart drop to her stomach; as if she had just committed a terrible sin…_

_With an agonizing jolt…She suddenly realized something…_

_She realized that she enjoyed it; feeling his breath against her lips—even if it was just for a moment. She realized that the feel of his lips was intoxicating; as they separated her from their physical world. The guardian didn't want to let go…_

_But it was only a dare; only a game played out of fun…it meant nothing…_

_Mai, however, suddenly found herself wishing that it did…_

Craters formed beneath her and rubble was flung into the air around her. Pulsations of energy hovered above her like a haze; sending pale pink strips of energy beating rhythmically into the air. Her nails dug vainly into her flesh, creating small streams of blood that trickled down her skin

_I don't want to die!_ She screamed mentally, _oh gods, don't let me die! _

"Get her out of the ring now!" the detective roared again and then whipped back towards Mai; there was fear that flashed across his eyes. But through her blinding pain, she was unable to see it; she screamed again and buried her face into the crumbling ground.

Across from her, Touya clenched his fist as a fierce wind whipped about him; stirred by the guardian's impending energy. Mentally, he cursed himself; he should have never underestimated her; he should have known there was a reason for her not attacking before. His eyes darkened slowly as he glanced around the arena; at a rate like this, she could destroy the entire stadium and everyone in it. He raised his blade of ice in a position in front of him…

He would finish this now, then.

Within the shadowy confines of a stadium tunnel, Toguro's eyes flashed. The demon could feel the tremor of energy ripping through the stands. His flesh crawled in anticipation as he felt the guardian's powers emanating from her body; he soon sensed his curiosity getting the better of him.

_So, Genkai…_he mused, _This is what you've created within her…a force so strong that not even she can withstand it…_

Touya shifted his stance; readying himself for the final blow as Mai cried out in a mixture of screams and sobs. He still could not see her face while she hid it between her knees, but it didn't matter to him. There was a pale pink orb of light surrounding the guardian now, and she gasped for air; it was forcing itself around her; suffocating her.

Even as the ice apparition began his charge towards her, she paid no heed. If anything, she almost wanted to die by this point; she wanted to get rid of the pain—she just wanted it to go away!

_G-Genkai…what's going on! _She half-sobbed to the older woman.

There was a sigh, _Your powers are building up within you—or at least they were…_came her reply and there was a hint of regret hiding in her voice, _Since you were unable to release it, it's become incapable of finding any other way of relieving the mounting pressure—_

_So what the hell is going on!_ She demanded fearfully, the ground beneath her continued to disintegrate and the entire stadium began to tremble.

But before she could respond, Touya was upon her; leaping into the air for his final blow. The pain suddenly ripped inside of her and she sent a bone-chilling scream racing through the stands; shuddering the very walls of the structure.

"YUSUKE!"

A burst of light suddenly enveloped the ring—just as the ice master was bringing his blade onto top of her head.

For the briefest moment, the Urameshi team could have sworn that they all saw a single pair of silver wings unfolding from the guardian's back—but in that same instant they were gone and in their stead, a whirlwind of downy feathers whipped around the girl.

A flash later, both Mai and Touya appeared frozen in time; the apparition remained suspended in the air—a look of surprise etched across his face and a single, bloody wound suddenly forming at his upper abdomen. The guardian's back was arched towards the sky, as if an invisible string held her up by the chest; drawing her towards the heavens above.

There was a tense pause that hung in the air as Touya crashed back to the ground with a sickening thud. Slowly, the ice encasing his arm began to melt away as he gritted his teeth against the sudden pain and watched the girl in front of him in an awe-filled disbelief.

Eventually, Mai's body came to relax and she leaned heavily onto Kira's staff. For a moment, all she could do was blink into an emptiness that surrounded her, and then she carefully raised her eyes to the ice apparition lying on the tiled flooring before her. Without saying a word, she unsteadily rose to her feet as her limbs continued to tremble. The guardian could hardly hold her eyes opened and they remained slits of deep blue.

A dull wind picked up within the arena and continued to let the flurry of feathers cast themselves around her. Mai watched uncertainly as they passed over her vision. There came a moment when she frowned, and weakly, she reached out her hand to grasp a single bloody feather drifting in the air…

…The feather that—like a blade—had pierced the ice apparition, Touya…

The blood from the plume quietly trickled down her delicate fingers as she stared at it in wonder. The wind blew slightly harder than before and took the feather out of her hand and sent it flying into the air.

Touya grinned hollowly, "I guess I shouldn't have underestimated you…" there was a hint of amusement lurking in his tone, but it was gone as he soon frowned darkly and stared off at the ground, "Go ahead…" he continued shamefully, "Kill me already; you have enough power to do it…"

But the guardian smiled sadly as she leaned against Kira's staff, "I'm not sure if that's entirely true…" she told him quietly, "I don't think I have any energy left…but even if I did, I wouldn't kill you, Touya; if would never be my intention to kill you."

The ice apparition stared at her oddly, and let a dry smirk tweak the corner of his mouth, "So even if we had been evenly matched…and the only way to win was to kill me, you would rather lose…" he stated and the girl created a small noise that could have been mistaken for a laugh.

"Yeah, I guess I would…" she replied.

He made the slightest head notion which she took for a nod, "That…that would have been an interesting fight…" he whispered and suddenly slumped over. Mai waited, as if expecting him to rise once more, but he did not stir. A moment later, Koto raced to the center of the ring next to the fallen fighter and started her count.

Genkai inwardly sighed with relief; in a sense, she was thinking the same thing as Touya; she should have never underestimated her…Even though Mai usually didn't think she could, there were things that the guardian had yet to amaze them with.

Both Yusuke and Kurama also had to sigh with relief. Equally, they were both thankful to see that Mai was somewhat alright…but it hadn't occurred to the redhead until just then that the last thing she had cried was the detective's name. At this, it caused him a slight controversy, but it soon evaporated as Koto neared the end of her count.

"Eight! Nine!" she paused for a moment as if giving the apparition a final chance to get up off the ground, "Annnnd….TEN! The winner of this fight—Mai from team Urameshi!"

Yusuke quickly made his way towards the edge of the ring, "Dammit, Mai! You're too damn stubborn!" he shouted at the girl, "You could have died out there—!"

But slowly, the guardian cocked her head towards him and smiled while weakly holding out a thumbs-up sign in his direction, "I told you to let me finish the fight…See, I know what I'm doing sometimes…" she said quietly.

He paused and blinked before he folded his arms over his chest and gave her an amused smirk, "Yeah, _sometimes_…but I have the rest of the fights, got it?"

Mai nodded slowly, "Uh-huh….right…right after I take a nap, alright…?"

And before she could make a move to leave the stage, her head suddenly slumped over on her shoulders as her body leaned up against Kira's staff.

"Mai…?" the detective called to her, "Crap. Hey, Kurama, come help me get her off the ring, okay?" and turning to Koto he said, "The rest of the fights are mine," he told her directly. But just as she nodded and Yusuke made a motion to crawl onto the arena, there came a swift movement from the opposite side.

In an instant, another of team Masho's cloaks had been shed and suddenly, the next fighter was standing in the ring. His body bulged with his physique and muscles while scars snaked their way over his bare chest. There was a dark glint in his eyes that neither Yusuke nor Kurama appreciated.

Impudently, this new fighter observed Mai with a disturbing interest, "Looks as though the young lady is volunteering to fight me…" he growled tauntingly.

Urameshi clenched his fist, "What the fuck are you talking about! Are you deaf? I just said all the rest of the fights are mine!"

He smirked, "It doesn't appear as though she's willing to leave the ring quite yet" he stated as he daringly prodded the girl in the shoulder, "…besides…she's still standing, isn't she?" he challenged darkly, "And she's not dead…so I'm taking that as a 'yes' in my book!"

Along the sidelines, Jin eyed his teammate dangerously, "Bakken…" he warned and his bright blue eyes suddenly narrowed. But the man appeared to be ignoring him.

"Uh, well…" Koto stammered, "I actually think I'm going to have to side with team Urameshi on this one…" she said a little warily, "I don't believe it should be considered a fight when one of the fighters is unconscious…" she added as she made a mental observation of the guardian.

But before any one of them could respond, there came a single chime over the loudspeakers:

"Attention. Since team Urameshi's fighter is still standing, the next fight will continue with Bakken from team Masho and Mai from team Urameshi."

Hiei found himself abruptly clenching his fists, "Who the hell do these people think they are…?" he demanded murderously, "They really are trying to fuck with us; the onna is hardly standing!"

Beside the tent, Ruka sneered smugly, "Unless you want another shock, you'll stand down…" she told him, "There's nothing you can do from within there anyway—"

Suddenly, without even letting Koto announce the beginning of the fight, Bakken promptly uprooted the guardian by her collar. Her head rolled to the side while she remained unconscious and the fighter smirked mockingly into her face. Koto even appeared worried and a bit distressed with him and looked ready to call him down, but she didn't have time before he suddenly whipped Mai across the ring.

Her wounds from the previous fight smeared blood across the tile flooring as her body tumbled over the arena. Yusuke clenched his fists dangerously while Kurama gritted his teeth.

Bakken casually approached Mai's bleeding body and smirked.

_Don't close your eyes…  
__Don't turn out the light…_

_Don't turn away…  
__Don't try to hide…_

_Don't turn out the light…_

:-

a/n: egh…iffy ending, I know, but please bear with me. This whole chapter is like 21 pages with the smallest margins, so it did take me awhile…and by the end I was kind of running out of ideas :nervous laugh:

but I hope you guys enjoyed seeing Mai fight a little bit! ...sorta…

YAY! TODAY'S KITKAT'S BDAY! haha, anyway--happy bday to anyone else having one today or in the near future!

NOTE: hey, I have a question for all of you: do you guys want Mai to have a spirit beast? If so, I would be much obliged if you could tell me and maybe even give me a description of the one you have in mind. And if you're able to--you can also scan a picture for me and send it to my email address...

ANYways...I'm getting kinda hungry! Time to go eat!


	19. A Crushing Revenge

DISCLAIMER: I don't own YYH, but all my original characters and original twists to the storyline are mine—SO NO STEALING!

A/N: IT'S A MIRACLE! I'M FINALLY UPDATING:nervous laugh: yeah, sorry everyone; I've had major problems with balancing my homework lately and I've had tests up the wazzoo so this is really the only time I've had in trying to update.

I wonder if you guys will be able to catch the pattern going on between the flashbacks throughout the rest of the story. Some of you may not like this pattern, but…yeah, gomen ne to all of you who are upset.

Thanks to my reviewers! I love you all! (haha, you know what I mean ; )

TonyDiMerasbedroomslave: I'm so touched! Thank you so much! I'm so glad you're enjoying it—as well as my other reviewers. But I am sorry to say that this isn't one of my top priorities at the moment so right now it's not at my best…

Kraszczyk: Hey, thanks for reviewing, Ryan. And for the record, I haven't been avoiding and/or ignoring you. I've just needed my space lately—plus it would mean a lot to me if you stop looking through my journal when I'm not there to defend it.

XxXRoseVixenXxX: I'm glad you enjoyed! LoL, and I did have a happy birthday—I bought like five manga books with the money I got

HellzFire Angel: Thank you so much! It was great talking to you in person on AIM!

Dolphingirl32173: Haha, yeah it was pretty long—I think I got over-excited with all the action and stuff, LoL, but I can be like that sometimes.

Little Sakura 87: You too? Wow, I guess great minds think alike! I was thinking about something similar to Ryo-oki, but a bit more cat-like (if you've read the Immortal Rain manga, it sort of looks like the think that follows Machika) But I'm so touched! I'm so glad that you enjoy my fic too!

Sk8tergirl69: Thanks for reviewing! LoL, I'm still thinking about the spirit-beast thing, but whether Mai is going with Yusuke or not…well…you'll just have to see!

Butterfly Girl Sarah: Aw, what happened to 'Sugar-Coated Butterfly Girl?' LoL, but you need to update tPwPs! Even though I have read pretty much all of the latest chapter…

Fangimation:nervous laugh: yeah well…about that…ANYways! Thank you for reviewing, LoL, like I've told everyone else, you'll just have to wait and see who Mai ends up with!

Umeko Saito: You betcha we're taking a break! FLASHBACKS AHOY! LoL, wow I'm on a major sugar-high after that white-chocolate-mocha thing I had from Starbucks. Haha, but I think you'll like some of the flashbacks in this chapter—at least a lot of my friends thought so, even though, for some reason, I was feeling slightly…um…_odd_ when I wrote the one between Yusuke and Mai ;

Black Spell: Haha, you'll have to see! My lips are sealed for the time being—I made a promise to myself that I wouldn't let any secrets slip through for the rest of the story, sorry!

PLEASE ENJOY!

_Thoughts/Flashback_

_With Every Drop of Blood_

:A Crushing Revenge:

"_Finally!" Mai stretched leisurely and splashed a little bit of water over the side of the bath tub, "The guys are gone and I can finally take a shower in peace!" ever since it seemed as thought the boys had taken up a permanent residence at Genkai's, she couldn't seem to find a moment of peace. Not to mention a free bathroom; she didn't know what Kuwabara did when he was in here, but it sure took a hell of a lot of time._

_She sighed contently and closed her eyes. The comforting steam drifted around her and she let a smile curl at her lips. After awhile, she slowly opened her eyes again and stared up at the ceiling where she quietly frowned._

_Simultaneously, the guardian's hand went to her forehead and to the three stones etched gently into her flesh. The gems gave off a dull glow that sent a tingle through her fingers. With a despondent sigh, she brought her hand back down, the three stones resting in her palm. She stared at them for a moment before her fingers delicately wrapped around them. When her hand opened once more, the gems were gone…and in their stead, a shimmer of light drifted into the air._

_The guardian watched as it vanished. She saw it disappear with little interest while she sank further into the tub. Her eyes found their way to her hands and she observed them quietly before she let them sink beneath the water's surface. Keeping her eyes on the ceiling, she slowly dipped under the water._

_Meanwhile in the hall "Dammit, Kuwabara! I can't believe you forgot to bring money!" Yusuke shouted angrily as he stormed down the hall, "Who the hell forgets to bring money to go to the grocery store?"_

"_I was in a hurry dammit!" the redhead argued as he charged after him, stopping just outside the bathroom door, "Geez, let me go to the bathroom first!"_

_Wrong move._

_The moment Kazuma opened the door; Mai had unfortunately decided to come up from beneath the water. She rubbed the steamy liquid out of her eyes and blinked. Kuwabara froze suddenly, uncertain of what to do—until the guardian turned her head towards him and blinked again._

_Laughing nervously, the redhead started to blush, "Uh, heh-heh…um, hey Mai—!"_

"_KUWABARA YOU PERV!" she screamed and frantically pulled her towel over her exposed body, but not before she hurled a bar of soap straight in the middle of his eyes. The redhead staggered backwards into the hallway just as Urameshi was returning. He didn't seem very surprised to see him with a block of soap plastered between his eyes._

"_Don't tell me you didn't know what was in there…?"_

"_It was an accident, Mai…" Kazuma whined as he rubbed the bridge of his nose. He then turned to Yusuke, "How did you know she was in there?" he wanted to know._

_Urameshi grinned sheepishly and scratched the side of his face with his finger, "Heh-heh…well I kinda saw her undressing before we left—"_

"_YOU WHAT?" Mai screeched suddenly as she clutched her towel to her body and leapt out of the bath tub dripping wet. Her left eye ticked dangerously and both boys could have sworn they saw flames blazing behind her._

"_Huh-heh…nothing?" he tried nervously._

_But the guardian charged toward him in a raging fury, "Yusuke Urameshi, how immature can you possibly—eep!" without paying much attention, Mai had created a puddle beneath her and as she had tried to advance on the detective, she lost her footing. She suddenly found herself falling forward._

_Mai winced in anticipation of the ground, but it never came. She suddenly blinked in surprise to find herself sprawled on top of Urameshi in a rather awkward position as he cushioned her fall. For a moment there was a pause as the guardian's cheeks burned a bright red and when she glanced down at the detective, his embarrassment was evident as well. _

_When he looked up at her, his blush spread and he looked away as he made a coughing sound. The guardian followed his gaze and let out another "eep!" as she clutched her towel tighter around her body._

_If it wasn't enough, Genkai suddenly appeared at the end of the hallway and cocked her eyebrow suspiciously when she caught sight of the trio sitting just outside the bathroom door. It looked as though she was going to say something, but then she promptly shook her head and departed._

"_Well that was awkward," Kuwabara muttered._

"_Not for you!" the guardian corrected as she hurriedly scrambled off of Urameshi. Her face continued to flush a bright red as she clutched her towel protectively. Yusuke sat up soon thereafter and coughed awkwardly as he stared off at the ground, "You two are supposed to be out anyway!"_

"_Forgot my money" the redhead mumbled. _

"_And you left it in the bathroom! Gods, Kazuma, what the hell do you do in there?" Mai exclaimed in her exasperation and stormed back into the bathroom angrily and a bit flustered. She slammed the door behind her and shortly afterwards, there was the dull splashing of water._

_There was a pause between the two boys._

"_What do you _**do**_ in there?" Yusuke asked suspiciously._

_The guardian crossed her arms and pouted into the now luke-warm water, "Damn pervs…" she grumbled and splashed her reflection. It was just like them to barge in on her; she couldn't get a single moment of peace anymore! Angrily, she tugged the shower curtain around the tub and slumped into the water._

_While she was fuming at the boys, she suddenly found herself relaying Yusuke's expression when he looked at her…_

"_Ew!" she cried and shook her head frantically, "No! No! No! No! No!" and continued to shake her head at the impulsive thought. What the hell was she thinking! Both Urameshi and Kuwabara were filthy pervs—and it was their fault that she couldn't take one friggin bath!_

"_Mai?" there was a short tapping at the door as Yusuke's muffled voice came through, "You still in there?"_

_The guardian rolled her eyes, "No, I escaped through the window butt-naked—yes I'm still in here…" she said bitterly. There was a pause prior to hearing the door creak open slightly. Another moment followed while Urameshi checked to make sure she was covered (thankfully, she now had the shower curtain pulled in front of her)._

_He cleared his throat as he stepped into the room and gently closed the door behind him, "I…er…I mean…I-I want to apologize for earlier…"_

_Mai snorted inwardly, "For being a peeping tom? Sure, by all means I forgive you…"_

_She heard him give off a short laugh, "I'm serious; I—erm…well," there was a blush in his voice, "I-um didn't _**see**_ anything if that's what you're worried about…Though I can't say the same for Kuwabara," he added and she sensed him glancing towards the door._

_But she didn't reply to him immediately and let a heavy silence fill the void between them. The guardian could tell he was becoming uneasy standing beyond the curtain, but she let him sweat it out just a little longer._

_After a long pause, Mai carefully pulled back a section of the curtain so that her head poked out. For awhile she gave him a look that made him think that he was in for it bad—_

_Until she smiled teasingly in his direction, "Hm…you don't seem _too_ sorry about it…" she taunted, "So what I say is this: I don't beat the crap out of you…and…" she paused._

_He waited, "…And…?"_

_The smirk widened and Yusuke shuddered slightly, "And…you let me take my damn bath in peace, got it?"_

_Urameshi stood there as if he hadn't really heard her, but then he grinned and shot her a quick thumbs-up, "Yeah, I got it," and he sent her a brief glance before he opened the door, "Come on, Kuwabara…" he said to the redhead perched outside._

"_What? You didn't see her naked!" he asked disturbingly crestfallen._

…

_You really are a perv, you know that?" the detective said bluntly._

_Mai grinned to herself as he closed the door and she sank back into the water. _Now_ she could finally take her bath in peace—_

CRASH!

"_You friggin letch! Stop thinking about her naked, dammit!" Yusuke suddenly roared and immediately the guardian peeked out from behind the shower curtain. She blinked in a stunned silence when she saw Kazuma's head protruding through the wall. A pissed sweatdrop formed at the side of her face._

_The redhead chuckled, "Heh-heh…hey Mai!"_

_Mai's eyebrow ticked dangerously._

"_HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO BATHE IN PEACE IF THERE'S A FRICKIN HOLE IN THE WALL?"_

-

A deep red trickle of blood streamed down the guardian's face. All over her body, new wounds had appeared and began to bleed over the tile flooring. Urameshi clenched his fists and was all but holding back from jumping into the ring.

"Dammit…" he growled, "BASTARD! Let the damn fox-chick do the fucking count!"

But Bakken didn't listen to him—and with Koto thrown out of the ring (after the first time she had tried to start the count) she wasn't able to return in time to even start the count. The fighter approached Mai once again and watched with a villainous smirk as the blood built up around her. His burly fist gripped her by the collar and held her dangerously high off of the ground. Blood trickled at the corner of her mouth as Bakken clenched his fist and drew it back next to his ear. Before anyone could cry out, his attack smashed into the side of her head, sending her body crumpling to the ground as the hemline of her color was ripped away into his hand.

Keiko found herself wincing with each punch the guardian took, "How… how can someone be so cruel…?" she whispered half to Shizuru, "Why does he keep trying to beat her up; how come he doesn't take the win?"

The older girl continued to watch the fight darkly, "It's like Yusuke said; the guy's a bastard; he could care less if he wins and he could care less who he was beating up. By the looks of it…" her frown darkened, "By the looks of it, he won't stop until Mai is dead."

Bakken leisurely strode next to the guardian and placed his boot on top of her skill; making ready to crush it. The man's smirk was venomous as he steadily placed pressure on it little by little.

Behind him, the final cloaked figure called out, "Bakken!"

The man chuckled darkly, "What? I'm almost done…" he trailed off suddenly when a flash of movement caught his eye. He turned to find Urameshi glaring at him murderously as he pointed both index fingers at Bakken's ugly skull. The redhead next to him had drawn the razor-like vine and held it in his hands menacingly. Both boys looked ready to kill him in a matter of seconds.

For a moment, a wave of terror swept through his face, but it was soon gone with a smug grin, "Alright then…I was only having a bit of fun…"

He glanced down at the unconscious guardian at his feet once more, his black eyes flashing. Suddenly, Bakken lashed out at her with his foot. His powerful kick sent her hurtling over the arena and tumbling into the sidelines below.

Immediately, both Yusuke and Kurama hurried to her side where she lay hurt and bleeding.

"Mai!" Urameshi nearly slid across the grass when he suddenly came to a halt, "Mai! Oh gods…Mai, wake up!" he shouted almost right into her ear while gently shaking her. Kurama carefully placed the guardian's head in his lap.

"Is she alright?" Botan called to them.

The detective shook his head, but didn't answer. _Gods, Mai…Please be okay…_He suddenly cursed himself inwardly; he shouldn't have let that bastard beat him up like that; he should have just gone in there and—

"Hgnn…" the guardian winced and shifted weakly, "Ow…d-damn that hurt…" she whispered suddenly and her eyes fluttered open until they were merely slits, "That wasn't much of a nap…was it…?"

"Dammit, don't do that!" Yusuke shouted, "What the fuck! We though you had died!"

A weary grin curled around her lips, "Nope…not yet, Urameshi…I won't be dying for awhile…" she assured him quietly. She stared out at the ring and slowly closed her eyes once more, "I…I just want to take my nap…o-okay…?" her voice faded as she passed away out of consciousness while Yusuke gritted his teeth and nodded shortly.

_Yeah, take your nap, Mai…I'll make sure this bastard pays…_

Quickly, he whirled towards the arena, "Watch her, Kurama," he muttered, "…Bakken's in for a rude awakening if he thinks he can get away with this…"

Ruka sneered as she rested her hands on her hip. Turning to Hiei, her smirk widened, "Your little friend there was lucky…" she drawled, "A moment longer in the ring and she might not have survived…"

The apparition glowered, "The onna is _not_ my friend," he corrected darkly, and paused, "If that bastard had continued fighting, Kurama and the detective would have torn down the entire stadium to stop him…_You_ and the rest of the lowlifes in this place were lucky…"

Her magenta eyes flashed dangerously before the masked fighter cut in.

"Hiei was nearly ready to fight as well…" she said with serenity as she turned to the seductress, "His strength is returning to him…" she added while she shot Ruka a sharp glare. Across the sidelines, Kuwabara struggled to get to his feet with the help of Botan. His determination to help Yusuke and to avenge Mai was evident, but the moment he began to erect himself, there was a sickening crack coming from his body. The ferry-girl caught him as he collapsed onto the earth.

Urameshi glared into the arena at Bakken, and without consulting the rest of his team, he leapt nimbly into the ring. Koto—after recovering from the shock of being thrown out of the ring—raised herself up onto the arena and grasped hold of her microphone.

She cleared her throat professionally (but it was apparent she had grown to disfavor team Masho's fighter), "The win from the previous fight goes to Bakken," she announced rather drearily and waited for the applause to die down. Once it had, her excitement suddenly returned to her, "But let's get the next fight underway! It appears as though Urameshi is out for revenge after the last match—which brings us back to this one! Let the next fight—between Bakken and Yusuke of team Urameshi—BEGIN!"

The detective grinned in anticipation and clenched his fists at his side. But there was a fire in his eyes that raged with his passionate anger towards the fighter. Kurama knelt beside Mai and let her head rest gently in his lap. Her scarred and bleeding face stained the white haori he wore, but he didn't seem to notice. Gently, the redhead ran his fingers through her hair while his eyes remained fixed on the fight beginning to take place.

In her sleep, the guardian mumbled something and weakly fingered the fabric of his clothing, "…K-Kurama…kun…"

-

_Mai weakly peeked through the slits of her eyes at the redhead sitting cross-legged in the armchair next to the bed. His emerald green eyes casually read over the book sitting in his lap._

"_I'm sorry, Kurama-kin," she mumbled through her comforter. Her cheeks were flushed with a fever and an ice-bag slumped on her forehead, "I didn't mean to get sick…" she continued softly and buried her face into her covers._

_Kurama glanced up from his book and blinked, but it was soon followed by a genuine smile, "It's not you're fault," he told her gently._

_Her violet-speckled eyes peered over the bed sheets, "But…we were supposed to go to the movies with the others…" she insisted, "You could have gone with them; I would have been fine…and you would have had fun," she glanced briefly out the window._

_The redhead laughed and shook his head, "I think 'Hello Kitty: The Move' may have been too much for me. By now Yusuke and Master Genkai are probably on the verge of their sanity."_

_Mai giggled softly, but broke off into a dry cough. She used the blankets to stifle the sound and afterwards buried herself deeper within them, until only her eyes peeked over the hem._

"_So…you would rather be here with me?" she asked softly._

_He smiled, "Of course I would…though there is the chance that I could get sick in the process," he added thoughtfully and then laughed. Mai grinned along with him and sniffed, rubbing her nose with her sleeve. She paused though when a scent filled her nose._

"_Um…Kurama?" she said warily and pointed to the smoke gathering at the top of the door. _

_The redhead jumped up, "Ah! I left the burner on when I was making your soup!" he hurriedly scrambled towards the door and flung it open. The guardian couldn't help but smile a little bit and giggle when she heard him frantically trying to put out the flames. He came back a few minutes later, his face scorched, but he was grinning nonetheless._

"_Oh…Kurama-kun," Mai said as he returned to his chair next to the bed. With some effort, she raised herself off the bed and gently planted a kiss on his smudged face, "You need to learn how to put out a fire better..."_

_He laughed softly and scratched the side of his face, "I suppose that would help in future instances wouldn't it…?" _

-

Yusuke's smirk was enough to send a shiver down anyone's spine, "So Bakken…" he drawled darkly, "Are you feeling lucky?"

The fighter started for a moment; caught off guard from Urameshi's tone of voice. But then he sneered back, clenching his fists at his side. He began to pant heavily; straining what seemed like every muscle in his body, but the fighter did not seem to be in pain as beads of sweat formed along his body.

Kuwabara started for a moment and his brow furrowed, "That's weird; there's something about his sweat that's giving him power—I can feel it, I just don't know what it is…"

"That's pretty gross," Botan put while her nose wrinkled, "Who would want to put their power in their _sweat_?"

Above them in the stands, Sakyo let out a short laugh. Toguro, who stood next to him, glanced down at the gambler and back at the ring.

"Bakken's pretty weak isn't he?" Sakyo asked casually as he crossed his legs, "The only reason he won the last fight was because he took advantage of that girl's condition, wasn't it?"

Toguro carefully placed his hands in his pockets, but didn't answer. The gambler smirked in his amusement and kept his eyes on the match. But both Sakyo and the demon knew that this match would soon be over once it began.

The detective watched emotionlessly as Bakken continued to sweat profusely; obviously, he wasn't all too impressed by the fighter's abilities. But then team Masho's fighter raised his fists above his head. From every pore in his body, wisps of mist rose into the air and began to fill the entire stadium. Yusuke looked as though he would be sick as the nauseating odor of Bakken's B.O. filled the air.

Before long, Urameshi was enveloped in the white cloud that now trapped him in the arena. The rest of his teammates looked into the haze uncertainly as the detective disappeared from their view. He glared through the mist; searching for his opponent—

But before Yusuke could find him, his senses suddenly pricked and he whirled around to find a spiral of energy hurtling towards him. Immediately, he jumped out of its way—only to find Bakken's fist digging into the side of his face. The detective staggered back to the ground and his eyes quickly shot up towards his opponent, but the fighter smirked and back away into the mist.

He gritted his teeth angrily and made a move to charge after him, but a swift movement caught his eye. When he turned his head, there was another whirlwind of energy flying at him.

Yusuke laughed inwardly to himself, _so he has a little strategy all planned out…I should have known…_

Anticipating Bakken's second attempt, Urameshi dodged the spiral and started to maneuver away from the fighter's next attack. His opponent, however, surprised him by attacking from a different angle.

The detective found his opponent's fist in his gut now and he stumbled backwards slightly. There was a pause as he recovered from the blow…but then Yusuke smirked and started laughing. Bakken blinked in surprise—but that was soon replaced with fury as he gritted his teeth; how dare the little punk mock him!

Taking his fist, the fighter threw it into Urameshi's face causing his head to snap to the side…

And yet he still continued to laugh at him!

Bakken growled darkly, "What's so funny?" he demanded.

"Nothing," the detective replied simply as his laughter died down, "I just think it's funny that you actual made it this far in the tournament. I mean, no wonder you took advantage of Mai being unconscious; hell, if she had been awake you would have been a bloody heap along the sidelines by now."

His opponent's eyes narrowed dangerously, "Are you calling me weak?"

Urameshi shrugged, "If by weak you mean a fucking coward who hides behind his dirty tricks to win…then yeah, you could say that," he replied casually while he sent Bakken a dirty glare despite his calm composure.

The fighter clinched his teeth as his fists shook at his sides. And suddenly, Bakken—filled with his angry fury—charged towards the detective. Yusuke smirked and raised his hands in front of him with his index finger pointing out towards his opponent. But as the fighter advanced on him, Urameshi shifted the position of his hands and fired away from Bakken. Team Masho's fighter paused in his charge as Yusuke's spirit gun raced past him.

Not a moment afterwards, there was a crash from beyond as the attack made contact with the stands. The earth beneath them shook so violently that the mist around them was lifted. Bakken glared at the detective furiously as steadily the rest of the stadium came into view.

Slowly, Yusuke let his hands drop to his side; there was a fury now burning in his eyes that was fiercer than before…

He was finished playing games.

"I'm giving you two options…" he told his opponent darkly, "You can continue fighting and get shit beaten out of you…or you can beg for mercy."

Bakken's fists began to shake in his fury, and without answering the detective, he started to charge once more. Urameshi made no move to step aside of his attack but waited as the fighter thundered towards him. And at the very last possible moment, the detective threw a punch into his opponent's stomach.

Throughout the stadium, there was a sickening crack as the fighter's ribs shattered within his body. Yusuke had hardly thrown the punch to begin with and yet Bakken's ribs now lay in shards inside of his chest. The fighter suddenly crashed into the ground, causing a crater to form, and clutched his abdomen desperately as he cried out in pain.

Urameshi took a step closer towards him and watched him suffer emotionlessly. Bakken unexpectedly began to sob from the pain as tears of agony filled his cold black eyes.

"Please…" he begged, "Please—mercy! Grant me mercy, I beg you!"

The detective said nothing to answer him and the fighter then began to cry out uncontrollably. But as Yusuke watched him, there was a brief moment where his expression softened when he heard the sincerity in his sobs.

That moment, however, was all Bakken needed. The instant he let his guard down, the fighter grasped a boulder from beneath him and suddenly smashed it over Urameshi's skull.

Yusuke reaction appeared rather comical, until he recovered from Bakken's cheap shot. Angry now, the detective clenched his fists until his knuckles had turned white. His brow furrowed darkly as he shifted his stance.

Suddenly, Urameshi began to charge towards Bakken, "You seem to have forgotten what you did to Mai—Let me refresh your memory!"

Before his opponent had time to react, Yusuke had come up behind him. Grasping Bakken's belt, he suddenly tossed him into the air above him. And faster than anyone could follow, the detective hurled punches into the fighter's body. The entire stadium could hear the sick cracking of Bakken's bones, but Urameshi did not relent and continued to crush the fighter's body.

With a final blow, Yusuke hurled team Masho's fighter across the arena and into the stands just beyond where Jin sat watching the fight. Bakken's body remained a broken and bloody heap amongst the pile of rubble surrounding him. The wind demon sitting nearby shot a quick glance towards his teammate and shrugged—though there was a hint of curiosity shining in his eyes briefly.

When Bakken made no move to rise again, Koto jumped into the center of the ring and began the ten-count. Yusuke's eyes remained on the broken heap emotionlessly; the bastard deserved it after taking advantage of Mai…

"Seven! Eight! Nine! And ten!" the fox-demon shouted and gestured towards the detective, "Winner of the fourth match—Yusuke from team Urameshi!"

Without even acknowledging some of the boos that came from the stands, he made his way off the platform and back onto the sidelines. Immediately, he walked over towards where Kurama knelt with Mai. Yusuke squatted beside them just as the guardian's eyes began to flutter open.

"Aw man, I missed the fight…" she said pouting weakly. Then she smiled and held up her hand, giving him a thumbs-up, "Heh, now I feel stupid losing to that guy…he wasn't all that strong, was he?"

Urameshi managed a dry smile, "Don't worry about it," he assured her, "You feeling any better?"

"Besides my excruciating headache?" she asked, "Yeah I'm just peachy."

He grinned slightly, "Promise me you'll rest for now, got it? I can't have you whining when we get back to the hotel," he told her, "Besides, I've got the last two fights."

"Be careful, Yusuke," Kurama cut in as he glanced across the ring, "They're most likely the strongest out of all of them; you'll have to try and conserve your energy if you're to make it through both fights."

The detective nodded and stood once more, beginning to head back towards the ring. But he stopped when Mai suddenly took hold of his hand. Yusuke turned around to face her and found that she had tears in her eyes.

"…Thanks, Urameshi…" she whispered.

It took him a moment to react before he grinned and gave her a thumbs-up, "Don't worry about it…

"I've always got your back…"

-

a/n: yeah it was short, but please forgive me; it's been so long since I've updated plus I've had a major problem with balancing homework. Gomen ne, I've been trying to update as soon as possible, but it just hasn't happened.

I hope you all enjoyed it! (my friends seemed to like the bathroom flashback…) but please don't hate me if I don't update for awhile.

OH! AND GUESS WHAT! If you want to see some of my artwork, please go to (don't hate me, but the colored one sucks; it was the first one I scanned plus I only had Paint to work with…) Please comment on them if you do…Ah, just a random thought.

Till next time!


	20. Jin the Wind Master

DISCLAIMER: I don't own YYH but Mai and all my original characters are mine—NO STEALING! GRRR!

A/N: I HATE SCHOOL!&&#&(#! DAMMIT, AND I DON'T WANNA GO TO HIGH SCHOOL! I'll never be able to finish this fic if I do…

ANYway! I'm sorry it's taken me so long to update (even as I'm writing, I haven't even finished half the chapter so I'm going to have to wing that part of it…ah well…) But thank you all for being so patient with me—but because I haven't really had time to work on this chapter, a lot of it won't be very original…Then again a lot of it may be pretty violent because I have some major anger to vent right now (I REALLY need to get a punching-bag)

Heh-Heh, but I guess the link for my pictures didn't come up…ah well. If you guys really want to see them e-mail me and I'll send you the link, kk?

Thanks to my reviewers (I finally have over 100 reviews!)!

Butterfly Girl Sarah: Of course you can use the question for LQ (we're all dying to know anyway, LoL) but thanks for updating TPwPS! Haha, I can't wait for the next chapter it sounds hilarious!

Umeko Saito: I hope you got the link I emailed to you, if not I'll try again later, kk? Yeah, but I was kind of hyper when I wrote that chapter (even though for this one it's almost just the opposite :nervous laugh: )

Little Sakura 87: TT thank you so much! I'm so glad you think so and that you're enjoying this story! I just hope it continues to remain as good as you think it is now.

Daylight Dancer: Oh! I love your new Penname! Haha, don't worry, I don't kill people for their ideas—I'm actually really glad about your feedback!

Witelighter-Death: the only reason I didn't let you read it was because you already knew about it—you seriously don't have to know everything I'm going to write about—hell Sarah doesn't know everything I'm writing about either so deal with it. And I know you're going to say: 'I'm not trying to know everything you're writing about' but that's sure as hell what it seems like to me.

XxXHellzFireAngelXxX: Yeah, it was kind of short, wasn't it? Luckily, I'm trying to force about three episodes into one for this one—so don't worry; it's going to be pretty long. But you'll just have to see who Mai fights in the end.

XxXRoseVixenXxX: I'm glad you liked them both! Haha, I spent a little too much time with the bathroom scene though, but o well…

Black Spell: okay, okay, I'll try and update as soon as I can, but there's just been a lot going on lately and I haven't had much time to do much writing. But I'll check into your stories whenever I have the time, I promise!

_Thoughts_

_With Every Drop of Blood_

:Jin the Wind Master:

As Yusuke crawled back onto the arena, Jin happily stood up from his seat along the wall. In only a few strides, the demon had already made his way onto the ring. Both fighters squared off at the center of the arena. Jin looked glad enough to be able to fight, while the detective had an air of determination about him.

The red-haired demon placed his hands on his hips and leaned down to Yusuke's eye level, "Sorry about your girlfriend there, Urameshi…" he apologized cheerfully, "Bakken was always a bit of an ass…"

"Yeah—wait, my what?" he choked out—obviously not paying much attention.

"Your girlfriend," Jin repeated and craned his neck over the detective shoulder, "The wee red-haired lass over there," he said and pointed.

He blinked, "Mai? She's not my girlfriend! She's my guardian!" he protested.

Jin winked and waggled his finger, "Either way…They both start with the same letter!"

"What? That has nothing to do with it!" he argued, but the demon chuckled and shook his head.

"Jest jokin, Urameshi…" he assured him with a jovial grin. Yusuke glowered from his embarrassment, but Jin laughed and folded his arms over his chest—obviously he was in a good mood about the fight.

Hiei snorted as he suddenly caught wind of the detective's emotions. _Amusing…_he muttered mentally as he sat on the observation table. He smirked inwardly and would have laughed had there not been people there to hear him. The only time he had found the detective so flustered over something was…never.

Jin grinned showing his slightly pointed teeth, "I must say though, that fight you had with Bakken—wasn't that a show!" he laughed, "Never liked that bastard anyway," he added with a casual shrug.

Urameshi now found himself smirking along with the apparition, "He had it coming to him."

The demon chuckled, "But there yeh were! Givin em one punch after the other—jest like this!" he said and mimicked Yusuke's fight, "That ol' baka didn't know what hit em!"

Mai watched the two fighters with a small smile. She hadn't seen him so happy about a fight for awhile; it was almost refreshing to see him laughing with Jin.

"Well he seems to be having fun…" Kurama remarked as if reading her thoughts. The guardian nodded weakly and stared back up at the ring. He _did_ seem happy. Despite both her and Keiko's objections, Mai knew that…that this was where his heart belonged…

Jin stretched towards the sky and grinned, "So yeh ready, Urameshi?" he asked.

With a smirk, the detective nodded and readied his stance, "Yeah I am."

After seeing the two fighters ready, Koto stepped up with her microphone excitedly, "Well it appears as though our fighters are ready to fight!" she announced, "So without further ado, I give you the next fight between Jin from Team Masho and Yusuke from team Urameshi—BEGIN!"

:-

"Koenma, sir?" a soft voice came from the door. Quickly the toddler turned and gestured for Jorge to answer it. As the ogre lifted the latch and opened the door, a young woman clad in a dark purple kimono and ebony black hair quickly stepped into the room.

The demigod frowned, "Ayame? I thought I said that I would take all paperwork after the tournament was over…"

She nodded, "I know sir…" she said while handling a small stack of papers, "But I don't think that this could have waited. You might want to take a look at these," she continued and handed him the papers.

Koenma briefly scanned over them but paused with a start. He blinked and glanced up at the girl, "You're sure?"

With a small nod, she went on, "She arrived not two days ago, but we haven't had anywhere to place her…Perhaps you could figure out something? Ayame suggested.

He rubbed the bridge of his nose and glanced down into the sidelines. After a moment, he answered, "I'll take care of it tonight; just keep her close at hand, alright?"

"Yes sir," she replied courteously, "But may I inform you that she only has so much time left after…the last time." She blinked and shook her head, "I'm sorry…we'll be expecting you tonight, sir, I'll try and make sure no one bothers you then."

With that she turned and softly closed the door behind her.

Jorge, who had taken the liberty of looking over the papers from Koenma's shoulder, also blinked in surprise, "Sir, but…but I thought…"

The demigod cut him off with the shaking of his head, "So did I, ogre," he admitted while he let out a short, hollow laugh, "But she's proven me wrong once again…"

:-

Yusuke squinted through the whirling wind that howled around the arena. Despite this, both the detective and Jin were grinning in anticipation. The wind master hovered a few feet off the ground as the gale around him picked up the dust along the arena floor. But in an abrupt instant, the wind suddenly stopped. Jin took in a deep breath and stretched again.

"Hah, jest a little warm-up!" he said brightly as he took a few steps closer towards the detective, pointing to his ears cheerfully, "See, they're all pointy up and wiggalin unlike they were before. It shows I'm happy or excited and I haven't been either for a long time! Saw biggy flyin up all the way high and past! Woo almost lost it! I'm talkin about the way ya sent Bakken on a first class ride on your fists! I never really did like that guy, the wind round his pores was pretty stinky," he chuckled, "I'm actually kind of glad you licked em. Oh! Don' tell Risho about that!" he said with a wink.

Urameshi grinned and shook his head as one of the demon's ears twitched.

Jin laughed, "Woo! That's a wiggle!" he said and started to hover in the air, "But let's say we get this fight goin shall we?"

The detective nodded, still grinning and changed his stance while Jin continued to hover off the ground. The wind demon smirked as a sudden tumult of wind suddenly whipped around the arena. Without missing a beat, Yusuke charged immediately through the storm with his fist raised to his head. Jin saw him coming, however and quickly shot to the sky, out of Urameshi's reach. But he didn't stop at the top of the stadium, but instead continued until he was nearly through the clouds.

"So this is what the wind in the big bright an open feels like, huh?" he pondered to himself as he lounged back in the air contently. He glanced down at the stadium beneath him and shielded his eyes with his hand to get a better look, "Might be worth having the old Shinobi job with a place like this…" he added as he observed the island below.

"Ah…where did he go?" Mai asked as she stared into the sky—only to be blinded by the sun. She blinked and then glanced up at Kurama, "He wouldn't leave the fight, would he?"

The redhead covered his eyes with his free hand, "I doubt it, he looked too excited about fighting Yusuke to leave now."

But the detective did not appear discouraged and continued to watch the sky about the stadium; waiting for when the wind demon would plummet back towards him. Without pointing it out to Kurama, the guardian strained her sight until she was able to see the demon as a tiny speck. Damn, those senses of hers had improved lately; it was almost nerve-wracking to see and hear so much at one time. Sometimes it even made her eye twitch—

She suddenly caught a flash of light above her. With a start she realized that Jin was charging back towards the stadium.

"Yusuke—!"

"I see him, Mai!" he shouted almost irritably as he squinted through the glaring rays of sunlight, but the guardian could tell he was unable to clearly make out the apparition heading quickly towards him. Mai noticed this too late when Jin suddenly appeared inside the stadium once again. She flinched in anticipation of the collision, but realized that she didn't have to when the demon veered sharply to the side milliseconds before he was ready to crash into the detective.

He began circling the ring, causing a whirlwind to pick up around them. Yusuke watched his pattern for only a moment, before he cut into Jin's cyclone. He attempted to stop him there and then, but Jin suddenly countered with a punch to the detective's face. Urameshi staggered, but almost immediately returned with a kick towards the wind apparition. But Jin narrowly avoided it and pushed Yusuke back.

The apparition chuckled through the wind, "You're a crazy one, ain't yeh, Urameshi?" he asked almost casually, "Next thing yeh know ye'll be blowing bombs up in yer face! Though, that does sound like something yeh would do!"

Mai winced as she attempted to raise herself from Kurama's lap. A stab of pain shot through her arm and she clutched it dearly while the redhead tried to help and support her. Only a few feet away, Kuwabara was attempting to do the same (but having a much easier time after having time to heal). Yet, he too grimaced through his pain as he turned his attention to the fight.

"It's almost amazing…" he grunted while he nurtured one of his wounds.

"What was that, Kazuma?" the guardian asked through her heavy breathing after the shock of her pain. Droplets of sweat formed along her brow, but she quickly wiped them away with her free hand.

The redhead continued, "I don't think I've ever seen him this happy about a fight; but I guess that could partially be because of Jin. Those two are a lot alike…"

She stared at him for a moment before she blinked and turned her head back towards the ring. You know, he was actually right about that, the guardian decided. Both fighters had appeared to put nearly their entire lives into fighting…and enjoyed every minute of it. In retrospect, they really were alike in most ways.

Jin set down on the arena floor and rolled his shoulders a bit, "Heh, but then again, it may be a wee bit harder to win if yeh keep doin crazy stuff like that!" he laughed, "So, Urameshi, ye'll have the honor of seein my personal favorite!"

The apparition switched his stance and stretched his right arm away from him and started to rotate it. Little by little, the speed of his arm sped up until it was almost going too fast for anyone to keep track of. But as his arm continued to spin, a gust of wind began to whip through the stadium. Koto held up an arm to block out the dust that was being thrown into the air just as a miniature tornado began to circle around Jin's arm.

Yusuke took a step backwards, "Oh shit—!" But before he could even finish, the wind master began to hover in the air a few feet off the ground. And only an instant later, Jin suddenly launched himself at the detective with his tornado fist raised out in front of him.

He hardly had any time to react in the instant it took for Jin to cross the ring. Frantically, the detective, dove out of the way at the last possible moment, but the force of the wind surrounding the apparition's arm sent him flying backwards nonetheless. His teammates watched as Urameshi nearly crashed into the wall at the edge of the stadium floor, but gripped onto the top of the wall and stop himself. He shook his head and glanced back towards the ring, only to find Jin charging towards him once again.

And instead of colliding with Urameshi, the wind master's fist smashed into the audience as Yusuke hurriedly leapt out of the way.

:-

"Heh, those damn punks don't even know I scammed the fight," Butajiri laughed smugly and turned to the man beside him, "But what about you, Sakyo? Have you made your bet?"

Letting a puff of smoke rise into the air, the gambler calmly took his cigarette from his mouth, "I don't gamble, Butajiri—I really do hate taking chances…" a smirk curled at his lips, "I'm just well informed, you could say…"

:-

Jin landed back into the center of the ring with ease and folded his arms over his chest. And despite already being bruised in several places, Yusuke still appeared as though he had plenty of energy to spare.

"Yeh were lucky that time, Urameshi," the apparition informed him, "An attack like that and yer girlfriend there would have been pickin up pieces of yeh outside this 'ere stadium!"

The detective's eye began to twitch, "I told you, she's not my girlfriend! She's my guardian!" he yelled.

Across from him, Jin grinned, "Aw, don't tell me yeh couldn't like a cutie like her! Heh, I saw how yeh were all flustered after her fight with Touya," he laughed again and shrugged, "An if yeh ask me, you seem to be doin a bit more guardin than she is…" he added with a wink.

Urameshi flushed a bright red and clenched his fists at his side while the apparition continued to laugh happily. When his laughter eventually died down, the wind master stretched for a third time and grew (semi) serious once again.

"Well it looks as though I might have to try a wee bit harder to beat yeh, Urameshi!" he said as he stretched out his arm again, "Get ready for another tornado fist—!"

But before he could even begin to rotate his arm, Yusuke suddenly charged at the demon. Caught off guard, Jin staggered backwards as the detective threw punch after punch at his face. The wind master held up his hands defensively against Urameshi's blows. But he continued to punch at the demon as if there were no tomorrow.

Botan blinked, "Jeeze, his hands are moving so fast, it's like he doesn't even have fists anymore!"

"Yeah, I know…" Kazuma grunted from her lap, "_I_ can hardly see them," he said and squinted as if that would help in following the two fighters' moves.

Yusuke suddenly hurled a thrust to the demon's stomach and sent him stumbling back. The detective raised his fist above his head for a final blow, but Jin unexpectedly recovered and immediately shot into the air above the stadium. Urameshi tripped as his own punch threw him off balance, and appeared rather pissed.

Jin didn't look to happy either as he sat cross-legged in the air with his arms folded across his chest. The apparition pouted after having the tables turned in Yusuke's favor. Absently, he stared above him and up into the clouds in a dream-like state. Hey, it wasn't as though the detective would be able to fight him while he was so far up in the air.

"Hey!" Botan suddenly shouted at Koto, "Why aren't you counting? If you haven't noticed, Jin's been up in the air before a lot longer than ten seconds!"

The fox demon turned to her, "As long as a fighter is using their spirit energy, flying is perfectly legal," she stated matter-of-factly while the ferry-girl frowned unhappily.

On the ground, Urameshi stared up at Jin with a smirk curling at his lips. Without even warning the demon, he raised his hand in front of him with his index finger pointing up towards the wind master.

"Ready or not," he said to himself as a ball of blue light formed at his fingertips.

The apparition turned his head back towards the ring after becoming somewhat bored. He suddenly began to panic when he noticed Yusuke's spirit gun charging at him. But before the detective's attack could come in contact with the demon, Jin quickly raised a shield of wind in front of him that closely resembled a tornado. As the attack came in contact with the barrier, it bounced off of it harmlessly and headed off into the air to someplace else.

Mai blinked, "He…blocked it," she said in quiet shock, but that was soon replaced with anger, "How the hell did he block that? That attack should have gone right to him!" she glowered furiously while Kurama tried to calm her down as best he could.

"He did raise that barrier rather quickly…" the redhead said thoughtfully ("You're not helping, Kurama," Mai muttered).

Jin laughed, "Don't be gettin all big eyed, any attack has to travel through the air to get to me right? I control the air, so yeh might as well hand em over and say 'Do whatever you want with em, Jin!'"

The masked fighter crossed her arms over her chest, "Yusuke's spirit gun will work…" she informed Hiei casually, "…The only problem is that he'll have to put himself at great risk to make it happen."

He snorted and glanced absently off into the stands, "Risking his life is the only strategy that detective constantly uses," he reassured her while trying to sound as though he didn't care. But already up in the air, the wind master was already beginning to summon another tornado fist as his arm began to swirl rapidly around and around.

It was almost as though the detective had read the masked fighter and Hiei's mind because when Jin began to plummet towards the ring and towards Yusuke, he wasn't backing down.

Mai noticed this and nearly shot off the ground in her frantic haste, "What the hell do you think you're doing, Yusuke!" she demanded—and would have ran up to the side of the ring had Kurama not insisted that she stay down. It appeared as though the rest of the team was in the same astonishment that the guardian was and stared gape-mouthed as Urameshi calmly watched Jin approach him.

When the wind master became level with the ground and started to charge straight-on towards him, a smirk calmly formed along the detective's mouth. By the time Jin was hardly ten yards away, Yusuke raised his hands in front of him and aimed directly towards the demon. The wind master started in shock when he realized what he was doing, but by now, it was too late for him to pull out of his attack.

At the last possible moment, Urameshi furrowed his brow in determination and roared, "SPIRIT GUN!"

The blast shot out directly in between both himself and Jin and immediately enveloped the stadium in a bright blue light. Mixed with the demon's wind attack, Yusuke's spirit gun spiraled around the two fighters in a furious gale. It was only a moment later when the blast dispersed and rattled the stadium.

By the time the smoke and dust had cleared neither Urameshi nor Jin were visible within the ring. This time, Mai forced herself to sit up off the ground despite her pain as she searched desperately through the stadium for either fighter. When her eyes finally found the detective against the stadium wall, she clumsily stood to her feet.

Staggering towards him she cried out, "Yusuke, you dumbass! What the hell was that? You could have died!" There were shocks of pain that shot up her legs, but she ignored them; Yusuke needed a serious beating for being such an idiot. Near the ring, she could hear Koto beginning the count-down.

As she came upon the detective, there was a shout that came from above them. Looking up, Jin was visible above the stadium looking rather shaken from the blast.

"You're crazy, Urameshi!" he yelled down at him, "What the hell was that? You don't make bombs go boom in yer face!"

The guardian crumpled to her knees beside him just as Yusuke started to come around, "Damn…no one died after that? What a waste…"

"Jin used the wind to send the majority of the attack upwards after he noticed what you were doing, detective," Hiei informed him from the tent nearby. He stared at the boy curiously, "Do you have any more of your brilliant ideas that we should know about?"

He grinned weakly, "Not a one," he admitted, "But one will come around eventually, right Mai?" he asked the girl next to him. The guardian muttered something under her breath, but didn't quite reply. But he continued to smile as he lifted himself to his feet and headed back towards the ring. Jin watched from above as the detective climbed back into the arena.

The wind master seemed to admire Yusuke's determination, but that didn't seem to stop him. He suddenly raised both arms on either side of his body and both began to rotate at an incredible speed. In a matter of moments, a pair of tornados formed around either arm. The apparition grinned only half-apologetically, "Sorry Urameshi, but I'm taking the prize!" he shouted to him.

Urameshi gritted his teeth, _Damn_, he thought to himself as he watched the two tornados, _the only thing that could block both attacks would be my shotgun. Dammit but that's not enough to finish him off…_the detective stared down at his hands briefly thinking, _I guess there's only one chance I have...even if I don't know how to use it…_

He abruptly changed his stance so that his body shifted to the side and both his hands hovered above one another as if he was holding an imaginary ball. A shiver raced down the spines of the audience as an eerie aura began to surround Urameshi and cause his body to glow a strange blue color.

Mai's eyes grew wide, "He's…he's going to use it…" she breathed in disbelief. But he had never mastered the technique! Sure, he had used the basics of it during training, but he had never actually used the attack in a fight—!

_The move can compete with Jin's_ came Genkai's voice, _but it could also destroy his body from within._

_Well isn't that ironic,_ the guardian replied with a hint of cynicism, careful so that Hiei wasn't listening to them (which—she was sure he was anyway. He always had that knack for prying into other people's business sometimes…)

:-

Koenma blinked. What the hell? Yusuke had said himself that he had never learned Genkai's Spirit Wave technique…and yet he was taking the exact stance that was needed to complete the attack! If he had been telling the truth, how the hell did he think he was going to pull this one off!

:-

Up in the air, Jin grinned when he sensed the power emitting from the detective. He even had to shake his head a bit to keep his ears from wiggling too much. As his excitement grew, the wind master suddenly charged down towards the stadium with both his tornado fists stretched out in front of him.

_It's been fun, Urameshi, but it's time to end this._

:-

Toguro leaned up against the wall of the entryway as he stared down into the ring. The power radiating from Yusuke was almost overpowering, but he didn't care…

It only meant their fight would be that much sweeter.

:-

Swiftly, the apparition began to pick up speed as his drew closer towards the ring. Both his fists were continuously held out in front of him in his anticipation. However, before even the wind could send him back, Yusuke suddenly gripped one of Jin's hands and held it firm. He smirked up into the wind master's face before he threw the attack aside, causing the tornado to rupture and disperse.

Jin's eyes grew wide in both fear and surprise, but then attempted to throw his second hand at his opponent. Urameshi immediately countered with a kick as if he had anticipated this move from him. With both tornado fists gone, the wind master was left defenseless while Yusuke gripped him by the collar. The detective's free hand began to emit a strong energy and started to glow the same blue color as his aura.

An instant later, Urameshi's fist found its way into the apparition's stomach and sent him flying through the air and out of view for the audience. Mai could only stare in astonishment as the wind demon disappeared into the air…how…how could he…?

:-

Shizuru looked up from her cigarette abruptly, "I think we should go stand somewhere else," she told Keiko.

The brunette blinked, "Huh? Uh, okay…" she agreed uncertainly and stood along with Kazuma's sister. The two girls calmly made their way up the stairs towards the landing above as the audience continued to stare up into the sky, waiting for Jin's return.

As if on cue, a dotted figure suddenly appeared above the stands hundreds of feet over the stadium. Only a few moments later, the wind master's body came crashing into the crowds, creating a giant crater in its wake.

Hiei smirked, "So that's Genkai's spirit wave…" he mused, "It might be interesting to fight her one of these days."

Mai overheard this and sensed the masked fighter rolling her eyes as she replied, "Yusuke did well with his attack. It's similar to his shotgun technique; using a larger area making it harder for an opponent to dodge. However, it's not as powerful as the spirit gun," she watched the detective for a moment, "The true power of the spirit wave come when it is shot point blank from a punch or a kick as he used it."

The apparition had landed in almost the exact place Keiko and Shizuru and moved from moments earlier. Shakily, he rose and looked as though he was going to say something to the detective, but he was suddenly overcome with fatigue and swept into unconsciousness.

In the ring Koto quickly made her way to the center of the ring and held up her microphone, "One!...Two!...Three!..."

:-

Butajiri paled considerably and on instinct, began to back up the stairs. It couldn't be…his team couldn't lose! He had bet all of his money on them! Those damn apparitions couldn't lose now, not after all the investment he had put into them! He turned quickly on his heal and headed up towards the committee box.

The gambler who had been sitting next to him leisurely let a puff of smoke drift into the air just as the fox demon ended her count and announced Urameshi the winner. He smirked through his cigarette; very little else gave him more pleasure than to see men like him squirm because of their own arrogance.

:-

Outside, the blue-haired apparition stared up at the giant screen in front of her. She bit her lip and as she looked around, she spied two demons standing nearby.

"Excuse me? Do you know where I could get a ticket?" she asked politely.

One of the demons frowned, "A ticket? Look, chickie, there haven't been any tickets for months! Why the hell do you think we're all standing out here like this?"

Yukina bowed her head, "Oh…I-I'm sorry, I was just wondering…" she apologized and glanced back up at the T.V. screen just as Koto announced the beginning of the last fight.

:-

Across from the Urameshi team, the last and final fighter stepped to the ring and threw off their cloak. Beneath, was a man with short black hair and skin as pale as ice. He stared at Yusuke's team with his cold, hard eyes and with an air of superiority. From what Jin had told him, the detective was able to gather that this was probably the Risho he had been talking about.

Urameshi gritted back his pain as he made his way to the center of the ring once again. The two leaders squared off and Koto checked and made sure that they were both ready.

"Well, before this stadium turns into a riot, let's get on with the final f—!"

"Attention…" the monotonous voice announced over the speakers, "In lieu of the previous fight, it has come to the committee's attention that the referee delayed the count during the first ring-out. The fight between Jin from team Masho and Yusuke from team Urameshi is ruled a double knockout."

The Urameshi team could only gape at one another

This _really_ sucked.

:-

a/n: wow, that ending was worst than the last one…o well; it's getting late and I have to go. Sorry that it took so long for me to update; once again I have to stress that I've been really busy lately, so I hope all of you can bear with me on this one…

I'll try as best as I can to update soon, but I can't make any promises.

HEY! BUT WHAT ABOUT A SPIRIT BEAST?:nervous laugh: there really hasn't been much talk about thatbut I still need your feedback! (I'll have to decide in only two chapters or so!)

Please Read and Review!


	21. Kuwabara's Fight for Love

DISCLAIMER: I don't own YYH much to my dismay :pouts:

a/n: well the good news is that I didn't have a lot of homework this weekend so I'm getting a head start on the next chapter! (not to mention the fact that I'm unbelievably bored out of my mine, LoL)

Cookies to my reviewers! (haha, that's something new)

Dolphingirl32173: LoL, well this is as soon as I could have started, but here you go!

Umeko Saito: Aw man, that's a bummer (but I'm glad you took the time and effort to write a review!) But lucky for you, this is the last chapter for fighting (at least for another two or three chapters)

Daylight Dancer: the idea sounds really interesting (it really does!) but with all that I'm going to do with Mai, it'll just be too complicated to add another character. But no, I don't think I have (nor do I want to—kitkat doesn't like scary movies, nuh uh).

XxXHellzFireAngelXxX: ME TOO! Lol, I'm glad you liked the chapter—and here's your update!

Enjoy! (and please check out 'What Life Brings'!)

**PLUS I STILL NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE SPIRIT BEAST THING!**

_With Every Drop of Blood_

:Kuwabara's Fight for Love:

Team Masho's leader smirked when he caught sight of the near-horrified expressions on the Urameshi team's face. He folded his arms over his chest calmly and with an air of satisfaction. Turning towards Koto, he said, "Just give us the win, already; their team is basically disqualified anyway…" he said casually.

The fox-demon puffed out her cheeks; like team Urameshi, she wasn't all too pleased with the ruling either, "I _so_ did not delay that count," she muttered under her breath, "But I'm afraid that unless the Urameshi team willingly hands over the match, you still have to fight one of them…"

He snorted, "Like who? That red-haired lump that's too weak to stand?"

"Hey, I heard that!" Kazuma shouted and almost started to crawl towards the stadium, but Botan stopped him.

Anger burned in Yusuke's eyes and his fists clenched tighter, causing his nails to dig into his palm. Without saying a word, he suddenly leapt off the ring and charged across the sidelines. He slammed his fists into the out wall, causing several of the demons above to scurry away from the crumbling concrete. He gritted his teeth furiously as he swore darkly under his breath.

Meekly, Mai struggled to her feet and staggered towards him.

The detective's head hung low as his fist stayed planted in the wall, "Dammit," he growled, "DAMMIT!"

The guardian stumbled next to him, but paused a moment before she gently placed her hand on his shoulder, "Yusuke—?"

She was cut off when he suddenly struck at her hand. Hurt, she backed off a step or two and stared down at the ground. Urameshi froze when he saw the pain in her eyes. With a sigh, he shook his head, "Sorry…" he muttered, "It's just that these bastards are really pissing me off…"

Glancing between him and the ring, the guardian managed a weak smile, "We've showed them once…we'll think of something…"

He sighed again, "Mai, _what_ are we going to do? It's illegal for Hiei or the masked fighter to fight, we've both lost, Kurama's spirit energy is toast, and Kuwabara can't even stand! Tell me, what the hell are we going to do? We might as well hand them the win like he said!"

Mai looked at him for another moment before she stared off at the ground, "I…I don't know yet," she admitted quietly.

"Risho!" Touya grunted as he struggled towards the ring and used the platform for support, "You're mocking the sacrifices of our team! By cheating you're making a mockery of their deaths!"

He snorted and wouldn't look at him, "Gama and Bakken fought for the light…and now we're going to enjoy it."

The ice apparition gritted his teeth, "Risho—!"

But the team leader had suddenly curled his fist into a ball. In a flash, Risho had sent Touya flying across the arena with one hit. In unison, the Urameshi team turned heads as the ice apparition's battered body tumbled over the sidelines.

"What was that for?" Mai suddenly demanded and staggered a few paces towards the ring, "You just attacked your own teammate!"

Risho turned towards her with an icy glare, "It's none of your business what I do within my team, is it?" he dared, "And I'd watch that tongue of yours if I were you; you don't know where it will end up…" he added with a lecherous grin.

The guardian flushed a fiery red and glowered furiously, "Bite me—!" and despite her lack of strength and energy, she nearly started to charge towards the ring in her fury. But Yusuke held her back.

"Mai, stop it," he ordered gravely, "If you try to attack him, you'll only end up getting hurt…"

"As long as I took him down with me, it wouldn't matter, would it?" she growled and tugged against the detective's grip, "Dammit, let me go, Yusuke!"

"I would listen to him, onna," Hiei told her casually from a few feet away where he still sat beneath the observation tent, "You don't have enough energy to take him down; try to attack him and you will most likely die," he hooded his eyes as the duo turned towards him, "There is only one rule to this damn tournament; the strongest man prevails. You do not have enough strength to take on Risho alone, I however would be happy to show this stadium a new definition of victory."

Even as he was speaking, the apparition clenched his fist. The area around his body nearly exploded in the amount of energy that pulsated through him. An aura of a deep purple hue swayed eerily around him as he smirked.

Kurama smirked also, but only in his amusement, "I guess Hiei got his energy back then…" he concluded calmly.

Next to her, Mai suddenly sensed Urameshi's spirit energy beginning to rise swiftly. He let her go and instead clenched his fists at his side in anticipation. Both the detective and Hiei were ready to take on every demon in the stadium to release the anger that built within them.

-:-

Shizuru glanced to the side unexpectedly. As she and Keiko were heading back towards their seats (or what remained of them) the older girl spotted someone amidst the crowd of demons standing outside the stadium. She frowned when she caught sight of the short, blue-haired girl standing alone.

In an instant, she was able to make a connection. By the way Kazuma had always been babbling about her, Shizuru was able to match his disturbingly accurate details with the girl who stood outside of the arena.

Gesturing to Keiko, the two girls headed off of their course towards her.

But before either of them could introduce themselves, she quickly spotted them and turned, "Oh! Um, you wouldn't happen to know if I would still be able to get in, would you? I'm afraid I didn't realize that we had to buy a ticket beforehand…"

_Yup,_ this was her; her politeness was a dead giveaway, "You wouldn't happen to be looking for Kuwabara?" the older girl asked.

Her bright red eyes lit up, "Oh! Are you Kazuma's sister?" she asked almost with excitement and performed a quick bow, "My name is Yukina!"

_Just as I thought…_Shizuru turned towards the brunette next to her, "Hey, Keiko, could you go get Botan for me?" she asked.

She nodded quickly, "Yeah sure, I'll be back in just a sec!"

-:-

Koto glanced uncertainly between the two teams before she quickly checked the time. Raising her microphone to her lips, she announced, "Time is running out; if team Urameshi cannot find a team member to fight, they will have to forfeit the match to team Masho—"

Only an instant too late, Mai felt Urameshi snap. The detective unexpectedly made a furious dash towards the arena where team Masho's leader stood waiting—

"Urameshi! We still have one more fighter!" Kuwabara suddenly called. Yusuke slowed suddenly and turned towards the redhead in both confusion and irritability. He carefully raised himself off of the ground with much difficulty, "I'll fight Risho."

Stumbling along the way, Kazuma made his way onto the platform in the center of the stadium. His teammates found themselves wincing with the dull cracking of his bones.

He clutched his arm as he went to meet the team leader in the center of the ring, "I'm still eligible to fight, remember…?" he grunted past his pain.

Beneath the tent, Hiei snorted, "He can hardly stand, let alone take on the leader of any team."

The guardian bit her lip as Kuwabara suddenly doubled over and let out a groan of pain. She hated to admit it, but he was right; if Kazuma tried to take on Risho, he might not survive…

"Kuwabara get your ass out of there!" Yusuke ordered, "You can hardly stand—you'll die out there, you idiot—!"

"If you want to stop me, Urameshi…" he wheezed, "You'll have to kill me."

Urameshi froze, stunned. Mai was also taken aback by the seriousness of his tone about taking on the fight. Despite the fact that he could barely hold himself up, he was willing to take on the final fight for his team. Inwardly, she couldn't help but smile; Kuwabara really did have a heart of gold…no matter how stupid he was sometimes.

The redhead straightened himself slowly and gritted back the pain, "It's not like I don't know what the committee is up to; I know you two are angry and what will happen if we lose…" he winced, "…But if you and Hiei destroy everything, you'll be just as bad as them—I'd prefer it if we win it like men…"

Once more, Hiei snorted from beneath the tent, "Was the including yourself?" he asked ironically.

"Shut it, shrimp!" the redhead bellowed. Kurama had a hard time concealing a small smile; to think that they might be in-laws one day…wasn't that a scary thought…

"Botan? Botan!"

The ferry-girl quickly turned to find Keiko hurrying down the tunnel towards them. She went to meet her as she came to the archway, panting.

"Keiko is something wrong?" she asked urgently, but the brunette shook her head.

"No…no but Shizuru wanted me to come and get you…" she explained as she regained her regular breathing pattern, "You can come away for a little bit, can't you?"

She nodded, and almost immediately, Keiko hurried back down the tunnel with the ferry-girl following after her. In only a matter of minutes, the two girls found themselves outside of the arena where Shizuru and Yukina stood waiting for them.

The ice-apparition looked up swiftly as they approached, "Botan, it's you!"

She smiled in return, "Hi! But what brings you here?" she wanted to know and glanced at the older girl beside her as if that would give her a hint, "Did you come to cheer on Kuwabara and the others?"

Yukina nodded, "And…well, this may sound a bit silly, but I also came looking for my brother—"

"Wh-What?" the ferry-girl stammered. _She can't possibly know about Hiei, can she?_ She nearly screeched inside of her mind.

But she was able to breathe a sigh of relief when the ice-apparition continued, "Well, you see, I heard that he was a very good fighter…I thought that I might be able to find him here."

"Don't worry, kid," Shizuru said as she placed her hands in her pocket, "We'll help you find your brother…" as the girl smiled in her gratitude, the older girl leaned over towards Botan and whispered, "Just play along, alright?"

The ferry-girl frowned, _How does she…? Oh…that's right…_she kept forgetting that Shizuru had been there when they had first watched Koenma's tape on Tarukane and his mansion. It made sense that she had been able to see the tape too, now that she thought about it; Kazuma always had a knack for spiritual awareness…she guessed it ran in the family. _Speaking of family…how many is that now who know about Hiei and Yukina now?_ She thought to herself, _well certainly not Kuwabara, he was to ecstatic to wait until the end of the video—but then there was Yusuke and Mai…and Kurama probably knew as well…_

She glanced towards Keiko who had been talking with the ice-apparition cheerfully. For a second she thought that maybe she could risk telling her…

Until Hiei's voice popped into her head.

_Go ahead and tell her, _he dared venomously; _I'll enjoy torturing you to death if you do…_

Botan paled, "Well it doesn't help that I'm a blabbermouth and he's a telepath!" she shouted suddenly. The other three girls stared at her oddly.

"What was that, Botan?" Keiko wondered uncertainly.

The ferry-girl blinked, "Wha? Oh…eh-heh—nothing! It was nothing!" she insisted, suddenly frantic as she waved her hands as if to brush away the thought.

Yukina found herself staring over the crowd when her eyes suddenly caught sight of the screen plastered along the arena walls. She murmured something under her breath when she saw Kuwabara's face along the giant television. Quickly, she made her way through the hoard of demons, but found that she couldn't get any closer. The three girls behind her saw her stuck, and instantly, Shizuru stepped next to her.

For a moment, the older girl stared down at the ice-apparition. Judging by the look on her face, Shizuru guessed that she really did care for her baby brother…no matter how stupid he was at times. She smiled briefly before she turned quickly towards the group of demons.

"MOVE!" she barked sharply at the crowd. The demons scurried instantaneously off to the sides as they were abruptly terrified. Satisfied, the older girl gestured for Yukina and the others that the space was now open. They blinked in surprise and in unison.

Shizuru sure could be scary sometimes…

-:-

"What the hell are we going to do?" Yusuke muttered to Kurama, "He can't even make it to the center of the ring—and if he dies, we're all screwed!"

The redhead shook his head sadly, "Unfortunately, Kuwabara really doesn't stand much of a chance; but at least this fight might buy us some time to consider our options. Maybe I might have recovered some of my spirit energy by the time it's over…"

From the center of the ring, Risho folded his arms over his chest and smirked in amusement, "Do you need one of you teammates to help you?" he taunted, "I'm sure I'll enjoy it just as much if I get to kill two of you pathetic fools."

Kazuma gritted his teeth and forced himself to straighten his stance, "Shut up…" he growled.

The team leader smirked, "Why don't you just forfeit now and save yourself the pain?" he offered mockingly, which caused the redhead to swell with even more fury.

Before he could do anything drastic, Koto quickly stepped up to the center of the ring, "So it's decided! The next match of the Dark Tournament is Risho from team Masho and Kuwabara from team Urameshi! Fighters ready? BEGIN!"

Immediately, Kazuma raised his hand out in front of him, trying to summon his spirit sword. But to his horror, the only thing that remained of his sword was a small fizzle of energy that quickly died away.

"Aw, shit—" he muttered, but was suddenly cut off as Risho charged towards him and slammed him straight into the arena floor.

-:-

Sakyo closed his eyes calmly as he abruptly stood. The gambler made his way up the staircase to where Toguro stood beneath the arch of one of the tunnels. As he passed him, the demon followed after him without so much as a word.

"You wouldn't mind doing something for me, would you?" Sakyo asked pleasantly, but the demon didn't answer. In turn, the gambler took that as a 'yes'.

-:-

"What do you mean you can't let us in?" Botan demanded of the guard, "We only came out for a minute!"

He shrugged, "It's not my fault you don't have a ticket," he told them simply.

Yukina stared down at the ground, "This is my fault, isn't it?"

The older brunette shook her head, "Don't worry about it; we'll get in somehow—"

"Not without a ticket," the guard cut in as he began to smirk deviously, "But I'm sure we could figure something out…just as long as one of you pretty ladies comes with me—"

Out of the blue, Keiko's hand suddenly reached out and slapped the demon across the cheek. And before he could recover, Shizuru quickly kicked him in the stomach. The four girls quickly moved past him and into the entrance beyond, but it wasn't long until they heard the footfalls of the other guards hurrying after them.

-:-

With a sickening thud, Kuwabara's body crashed into the arena floor. A trail of blood could be seen where his body had traveled. It took all that he could to raise himself to his feet once again, even though his shoulders were hunched from the strain he was putting on his body.

"It's a miracle he's still standing," Kurama noted quietly to his other teammates. Both Yusuke and Mai agreed grimly, but said nothing; it was bad enough Kuwabara couldn't conjure up his spirit sword…they were _lucky_ to have him standing at this point.

Ruka's head suddenly snapped to the side when she unexpectedly felt Hiei's spirit energy exploding around him. Her eyes grew wide in horror when she saw the eerie purple aura pulsating through his body. The masked fighter glanced up calmly at the apparition before turning her attention back towards the arena where the redhead continued to be beaten to a pulp.

"You're planning on making your move if Kuwabara loses, aren't you?" she inquired casually.

He clenched his fists threateningly, "What if I am? Get in my way and I swear I'll kill you along with the rest of this damn stadium," his eyes flashed dangerously, "I'm not leaving without a war."

Kazuma's body tumbled across the tiled floor suddenly. After a moment, the redhead shakily raised himself to his hands as knees while Risho stepped in front of him; waiting to make his next move.

"Dammit, why can't I use my spirit sword?" he demanded of himself, only to hear the team leader snort in amusement.

"Your body is using it as a last defense to keep you alive," he informed him just as a glint flashed over his eyes, "If it even spared enough for you to make a knife, you would simply collapse—" The apparition instantly landed the redhead with a powerful punch to the gut; sending him flying across the arena, "Like now!"

-:-

Sakyo peered around the room in dry amusement as he pulled out a cigarette from his pocket. Lighting it, he stared down at the floor that had been drenched in crimson blood. Toguro stood only a few feet away, observing the blood that now stained his fingers. Absently, the demon flicked it off with little interest.

As the gambler looked at all the bloodied bodies, he noticed Butajiri's not too far away. He calmly walked towards it and nudged his limp head with a foot. His glazed eyes stared up blankly at the ceiling as the wound along his forehead reopened thanks to the movement.

"Well now that that's taken care of…" Sakyo mused as he moved closer towards the window and glanced down into the arena, "Maybe Urameshi may be able to win this match."

Toguro placed his hands in his pockets, "…If they couldn't have pulled this off, they wouldn't have been worth fighting anyway…"

-:-

"Six!" Koto shouted, but paused suddenly as the redhead began to stir. His teammates winced as the sickening crack of his bones echoed through the crowd.

"Somebody's got to stop him," Mai said quietly, "He'll kill himself if he keeps this up—!" but even as she was speaking, Risho seemed to be thinking exactly the same thing as he purposely stepped down from the platform.

The demon smirked malevolently, "You have more endurance than I thought…I guess that means you'll have the honor of witnessing my personal technique before you die!"

Suddenly, the earth began to quake violently. Without enough energy to support herself, Mai collapsed onto her knees only to have Yusuke and Kurama quickly follow after her (but whether or not it was on accident was questionable). Each of them were surprised to find Kuwabara still standing in the center of the ring despite the shuddering of the ground. But then the earth around Risho almost seemed to explode as towers of dirt and gravel rose up around him.

The wall of earth blocked the apparition from their view. That is until the dirt settled back into the ground to reveal Risho covered in a stone-like armor acquired from the ground. Spikes protruded from the body armor that covered his chest and even his head. And from beneath his helmet, the leader smirked.

Without even giving Kazuma a warning, he suddenly leapt into the air above the ring while large clumps of dirt flew up with him.

Only an instant later, Risho, dove swiftly towards the earth and straight towards Kuwabara. The redhead shifted his stance to try and endure the attack. But with the demon and the bullets of earth charging at him, he soon found himself thrown backwards by the force.

His body crashed into the tiled flooring causing a crater to form. It took longer this time, but eventually he was able to rise shakily off the ground and back onto his feet.

Despite this, it was clear that he wouldn't be able to stand another attack.

-:-

"Well this is a problem," Botan said under her breath to the older girl beside her. Surrounding them were, at a very minimum, a dozen or so guards. But without answering her, Shizuru suddenly lashed out with her fist at the nearest demon, causing him to stumble backwards.

"Run, dammit!" she ordered just as she went after another one of the guards. It took a moment before the other three girls nodded swiftly and hurried down the hall as Kazuma's sister held off their pursuers.

As they raced down the corridor and turned a corner, they suddenly found themselves stopping in place. Yukina nearly felt her heart stop as she took an involuntary step backwards.

Toguro's eyes flashed briefly over the girls before he merely side-stepped them all, "I'd run along, if I were you," was all he said to them. They could only stare after him as he disappeared down the hallway, but the ice-apparition couldn't help but remember everything that happened at Tarukane's mansion…it sent a shiver down her spine, but she quickly shook it off as Keiko and Botan started back down the corridor towards the raging crowds.

Sakyo quirked an eyebrow slightly when he turned the corner towards the commotion. Casually, he placed his hands in his pockets and approached the guards holding back the tall brunette.

"You can let her go," he told them, "She's with me."

The guards glanced uncertainly at one another before shrugging and walking back towards their posts. Shizuru straightened her vest and muttered something under her breath before turning towards the handsome gambler. Not even saying a word to her, he fished out another cigarette from his pocket and handed it to her.

She took it warily and let him light it, "Thanks…"

-:-

Risho clenched his fists at his side, "Dammit, why the hell won't you give up already?" he demanded furiously at the redhead who continued to stand.

His breath came out ragged, but yet he was still able to hold his stance, "Because…" he heaved, "We only need one more fight to move on…"

The apparition smirked now, "You're using up all your life energy you know; you're going to die in just this next attack…"

Kuwabara gritted his teeth, "Well as long as I take you down with me, it won't matter," he growled. He found himself straining to gather the last remaining ounces of energy from his body just so that he could conjure up an attack. Even so, he felt himself draining quickly of his strength before there was nearly enough.

_Damn…_he thought, and instinctively found himself glancing over his teammates grimly. Despite himself, he let out a hollow chuckle; at least if he was going down, he'd go down in style…

His eyes met with each of his team members and he sighed, _Hiei, you're a little punk, and you always said mean stuff to me but I know underneath all that junk you're a good guy. Kurama, you taught me a lot with the things you've said, there's nobody more caring than you,_ he paused and glanced towards the tent again,_ Woman fighter person you saved those guys from Dr. Ichigaki and that means a lot, you didn't say much but somehow I really feel like I know you. Mai, well, you've just been a great friend in general… And Urameshi...Urameshi, take care of the rest of the tournament for me…_

In front of him, Risho suddenly jumped into the air again and began to gather up the clumps of rock and dirt around him. Kazuma clenched his fists at his side and switched his stance so that as the apparition plummeted towards the earth again, the redhead raced to meet him.

With a rough collision, Kuwabara was able to hold Risho back even while keeping his footing. But the force of his attack caused the redhead to slide backwards. The demon would not let up, however, and he soon found his strength quickly wearing thin.

Unexpectedly, the redhead found his thoughts wandering towards Yukina; her pretty face and angelic features (for a moment, he even went into a type of daze) _Wait a second! Why am I thinking about Yukina? Well, she is beautiful..._he sighed inwardly,_ I'm sorry, my love, I wish you could be here to watch me fight—_

"Kazuma!"

Kuwabara blinked suddenly. That was weird…he could have sworn he heard someone call out his name. And besides Mai (at times), the only person who called him by his first name was—

"Yukina!"

Both Yusuke and the guardian sat blinking in amazement. Well that was just plain creepy…

"I don't think I'll understand that guy…" the detective thought aloud as he rubbed the back of his neck, "I mean, I knew he had spiritual awareness, but that 'Yukina Sense' of his is just a little freaky."

The redhead abruptly was able to throw Risho off his flight pattern and disrupt his attack. The demon staggered backwards in surprise while Kuwabara quickly scanned the crowd for the ice-apparition. In—what probably would have been a world record—he spotted her as well and Keiko and Botan standing in the front row of seats not too far away.

He pranced quickly towards the concrete wall and waved enthusiastically up at her, "Hey! Yukina! Did you come to watch me and my mad skills?" he called to the apparition while he struck several body-building poses. Yukina smiled and let out a small giggle—which was more than enough to satisfy the ecstatic redhead.

Risho recovered quickly and gritted his teeth, "Let's finish this fight, dammit!"

The ice apparition suddenly turned her head, "Kazuma!"

He quickly switched his attention back to the fight—but not before sending Yukina a final grin, "I'll finish this one for you, baby!" he shouted to her. His fists clenched at his side as Risho charged towards him, and even he was amazed at how fast his energy unexpectedly returned to him. Kuwabara's teammates watched in near awe as his body was surrounded in an unbelievable aura; exploding with enough energy that would have surprised them even if he had been at full health.

Clenching his fist, a flash of energy shot through his hand and formed into his spirit sword. It might have just been an illusion, but for some reason it looked a lot bigger…

But before anyone could comprehend it, Risho was only a few feet away from the redhead. Overcome with new strength, Kuwabara raised his sword over his head and swiftly brought it down onto his opponent. Time seemed to stand still as the energy merely sliced straight through his armor—but thanks to the force of the blow, the apparition was sent flying backwards into the stadium causing the concrete wall around him to crumble.

Kazuma made a quick motion with his sword as he "sheathed" it along his belt. The energy disappeared and he heaved a sigh of relief. His weariness was suddenly overcome when he remembered Yukina and almost instantly, he skipped back over towards the stands.

"Hey! How was that? Did your man deliver or what?" he shouted enthusiastically up at her as Koto made her way to the center of the ring.

"One! Two! Three!" she shouted while Kazuma continued to show off to the ice-apparition, "Four!"

"Kuwabara the count!" both Yusuke and Mai shouted in unison, but it took a moment for the redhead to understand what they were talking about. When it finally did click, he started and swore under his breath as he staggered back to the ring.

He panted and placed his hands on his knees as the fox-demon finished her count.

"Annnnd ten!" she shouted and gestured towards the one side of the arena, "Winner of this match—team Urameshi!"

Yusuke stepped into the ring and walked up to Kuwabara who now stood hunched over after realizing the toll taken out on his body. Grinning, the detective slapped in along the back, "Way to pull through, buddy!" he congratulated—only to blink guiltily when the redhead toppled over from exhaustion.

The guardian couldn't help but conceal a small laugh…that is until her gaze found Hiei and the masked fighter (now freed from Ruka's force field). She had to blink a few times when she caught sight of the expression along his face. Uncertainly, she made her way towards them.

"Are you worried Yukina's here?" Mai asked.

Hiei snapped almost immediately to attention, but he soon covered up his surprise, "Hn, I could care less…just as long as she doesn't know who I am," his eyes flashed warningly, "Tell her, onna, and I'll be enjoying every minute I spend shoving this katana down your throat…"

She smiled despite his threat, "Don't worry about it…I won't tell; you have my word," she insisted and placed her hand over her heart almost teasingly. The apparition glowered, but without another word, she saw him make his way towards the tunnel out of the stadium.

For a moment, she stared after him worriedly, but then shook her head.

"Are you doing any better?" Genkai asked suddenly without glancing her way.

The guardian held her arm with a hand and stared up at the two boys on the platform in front of her, "Yeah…I'm fine…"

-:-

"That was some fight, Kazuma…" the ice-apparition noted as she gently wrapped a bandage around his arm. After tying the knot, she smiled up at him cheerfully, "There…is that any better?"

A furious blush formed at his cheeks and he nodded shortly. After getting rid of his embarrassment, he abruptly gripped Yukina's hand in his, "Yeah of course it is…everything is better when you're around!"

Oblivious, she could only nod and smile up at him. Kuwabara grinned foolishly and proudly flexed his arms for her while the sun slowly began to fade beyond the horizon.

Mai watched the pair with a small smile from beyond the tree limbs. With a sigh, however, she removed herself from their conversation and absently weaved in and out of the trees. She inattentively fingered the bandage along her arm.

Without paying much attention, the forest had disappeared behind her and she found herself standing along a cliff-side hanging over the ocean below. She blinked into the sunlight and stared off vaguely at the horizon. Mai sighed again just as she felt something brush against her shoulder. Glancing up, she noticed a single feather floating down next to her.

Curiosity piqued her interest and she gently grasped the plume within her fingers. She realized with a start that it was similar to the ones that had floated around her during her fight with Touya. The guardian stared at it blankly before she clenched it in her fist. Unexpectedly, she felt tears forming in her eyes. What was happening to her? With a pain that tugged at her heart, she couldn't help but think about her fight with Touya—

The last thing she had cried was Yusuke's name…

She blinked quickly and a pearly tear rolled down her cheek before dripping into the white feather in her hands. On instinct, her hand seemed to reach up and cover the area of her heart…what…what was wrong with her? For a moment, she merely stared down at the feather; her mind beginning to wander aimlessly. The guardian could feel the immense power pulsing within her and she shivered; it almost scared her…she didn't want to have what happened with her fight earlier to happen again. Gods, she was so sure that she was going to die and that feeling scared her.

Mai suddenly staggered dangerously close to the edge of the cliff. She quickly caught herself and blinked in surprise. The girl's hand went to her head and she frowned when her skin made contact with the heat resonating from her forehead.

She forced a weak laugh, _that's what's wrong…_she decided _I've probably gotten myself sick; it's making me think like an idiot…_

Sighing, her hand slowly released the snow-white plume that she held in her hands. The feather drifted in the air for but a moment before a gust of wind carried it off the cliff and over the ocean below. But when the tears continued to form in her violet-speckled eyes, she started to gaze absently into the churning water.

…She remembered something else—from her fight with Touya…

…Along with the power that nearly tore her apart…she remembered the feathers that swirled around her…

And a single pair of wings…

But not only that, but she remembered that only one thought continuously crossed her mind during that point: what would Yusuke do if she died? Not how Kurama would feel…not what would happen to her teammates…but…

The guardian covered her face with her hands as the tears began to stream down her face.

In almost a horrified whisper, she asked herself softly "What's….what's happening to me…?"

-:-

a/n: wow, this is probably the earliest I've been able to post a chapter in awhile…that's kind of weird…

Ah, but since kitkat is feeling very very nauseous, she better go to bed (wow, I'm talking in third person again—which isn't abnormal for those of you who know me) I hope you guys enjoyed; there won't be any fighting for about two or three chapters (which I'm secretly glad of; I was actually getting bored with it myself—but now on to the drama!)

**SPIRIT BEAST PEOPLE! NOT MANY OF YOU HAVE GIVEN ME SUGGESTIONS :SNIFFLE: BUT I NEED TO KNOW SOON!**I have ideas either way, but if you want Mai to have a spirit beast, you better speak up now, cuz I'm going to have to know after this next chapter!

Ciao!


	22. Fever

DISCAILMER: once again, I don't own YYH, but all my original characters and plot lines are mine

a/n: uhhhh…not much to say really (I just got done with my little workout for this evening so I'm a little numb in the brain for the moment :nervous laugh:) But I've had this chapter ready for awhile! (LoL, I was _that_ excited about it!) Egh…but usually when I'm excited about a chapter, it doesn't usually turn out all that well…

WELL! Let's hope this one does for once!

Cookies to my reviewers!

Umeko Saito: uh oh! Why are you swooning? (do I want to know…?) haha, okay, well I'll keep your opinion in mind, kk?

Little Sakura 87:whistles innocently: Haha, you'll just have to see won't you? (Though, this chapter may be a bit obvious…)

loves-winged-dark-angel: haha, thank you! I'm glad you like it, I'll be sure to update as soon as I can!

seeyu: LoL, well I'm glad you like Puu! Unfortunately, I don't think he'll be in _this_ particular chapter (soon though! I promise!) Haha, well it does take me awhile sometimes, doesn't it? Kitkat needs to break that habit…

Sarah1281:twitch: yes I realize that, and I personally think that it would look weird if I put "Yus…uke…" the 'uke' part would look kind of…odd…ANYway! I need to get on with the chapter—that you've already read—

Enjoy!

_Thoughts_

_With Every Drop of Blood_

:Fever:

The guardian managed to wipe away her tears before she opened the door to the hotel room. But almost immediately, she found Urameshi standing directly in front of her with that goofy grin etched along his face.

"Where have you been? We were almost tempted to start celebrating without you!"

But she didn't answer him. With saddened eyes, she stared up at him wordlessly. The detective blinked in surprise when she looked at him like that.

"Mai? What's up with you?"

She suddenly realized what she had been doing and shook her head, forcing a weak smile on her face, "It's nothing…just kind of zoned out there for a moment," she insisted and playfully hit her own head with her hand, "Stupid me—"

Unexpectedly though, the guardian lost her balance and staggered. On instinct, Yusuke reached out and caught her before she could hurt herself. Kurama removed himself from the couch almost immediately and hurried over to the pair. With a gentle hand, the redhead placed his palm along her forehead.

He frowned, "She has a fever," he stated as the girl started to recover. She blinked several times and glanced between the two uncertainly.

After an uneasy pause, she found herself forcing another smile, "Heh, must have lost my balance…"

"Yusuke, do we have any ice in here?" Kurama wondered as he glanced around the room.

The detective shook his head, "We've used the last of it…I should go get some though…"

But Mai shook her head, "Don't worry about it," she averred, "I'll go get some myself…maybe the walk will do me some good…" she smiled again as she headed for the door. Before it closed, she gave both of them an encouraging wave and shut the door behind her.

Urameshi folded his arms over his chest, "Do you think she'll be alright like that?" he asked openly, "I mean, there are some strange people walking around here…"

-:-

_Ugh…_Mai placed her hand to her head and shifted the ice container to her hip. _Gods, this fever is such a pain…_she groaned inwardly as she turned a corner. But wouldn't that just be perfect; they were in the middle of the Dark Tournament and she had to come down with a cold.

"Ah well…" she told herself, "Maybe Kurama's right…maybe some ice would help—"

Abruptly, a hand clasped onto the guardian's wrist and the ice bucket clattered to the floor. She felt several more hands grasp onto her shoulders and arms as she started to struggle.

"Hey! What the hell do you think you guys are doing!"

-:-

Yusuke found himself looking up as Kazuma walked through the doorway. He noticed the redhead frown at an envelope he held in his hands.

He held it up for a moment, "Hey Urameshi, come take a look at this; I found it outside the door."

Curiosity overcame him and he cautiously walked over to him and observed the envelope. By this time, Kurama had also grown interested in Kuwabara's find and stood to stand beside them.

_Dear Yusuke, Kuwabara, Kurama, and Hiei_

_We have kidnapped Mai_

_But don't worry! If you want her back, you know where we are!_

_Love,_

_Botan, Keiko, Shizuru, and Yukina_

Urameshi blinked, "'Kidnapped'?" he repeated, "Who the hell kidnaps their friend?" he demanded.

Taking the piece of paper, Kurama observed it quietly, "Did they really have to say 'kidnapped'?"

The detective rolled his eyes, "I doubt it," he said as he crumpled the note in his fist and tossed it over his shoulder. He then headed back and plopped down on the couch without so much as another word to the other boys.

For a second, Kuwabara did a double-take, "Wait, shouldn't we go and get her?"

He shrugged, "Maybe later…besides, what's the worst they can do?"

-:-

Mai blinked this time as she stared at the group of girls in front of her. Well this was random…_hell, they could have just asked me to come…they didn't have to scare the crap out of me like that._

"Sorry about that!" Botan chimed as she popped into the room with her arms filled with drink, "But we though you could use some time away from the guys."

The guardian rubbed the back of her neck, "You still could have given me a little bit of a heads up…"

She grinned, "But that wouldn't have been nearly as fun!" she insisted as she passed Mai (as well as Keiko and Yukina) a can of soda while the ferry-girl and Shizuru settled with a bottle of beer. The guardian popped her can with a quiet sigh and stared down into the fizzing liquid.

"Is something wrong?" Yukina asked worriedly.

Mai blinked, "Huh? Oh no, I'm just a little tired," she told the ice-apparition with a weak smile.

"I'll say," Shizuru put as she stretched across the armchair and took a swig of her beer, "What was with that one fight with Frosty earlier? You totally wigged," she said rather casually, and for a moment, Mai only blinked; unsure of what she was talking about.

"Oh, you mean my fight with Touya…" she concluded and once more stared down at her hands. For some reason, she had hoped no one had seen (although that would have been nearly impossible), "…I…it was just my energy…acting up, you know…" she told them quietly.

Seeing her become uncomfortable, Botan made a short coughing sound, "Um, heh—Hey Mai, have you ever had a makeover?" she asked quickly.

She frowned, "A what?"

Keiko, Shizuru and Botan stared at her in disbelief.

"You gotta be kidding me," Shizuru said, "You've never heard of a makeover before? Did you not go to Junior High or something?"

The guardian shrugged (technically, she hadn't; she had always schooled herself from Ms. Megumi's shop (see 'Fire Dancer')), "I've never heard of it."

As if on cue, both Keiko and the ferry-girl glanced at one another, "Well then!" Botan chirped, "We'll just have to show you then, right?" she nudged the brunette next to her and they both grinned.

Before she knew it, Shizuru, Botan, Keiko and Yukina were ushering her into the bathroom.

"Hey! But—!"

"Don't worry kid," Shizuru reassured her, "You might even have some fun."

-:-

Mai stared back at her reflection in the mirror. When she blinked, a pair of azure eyes batted their eyelashes—thick with mascara—back at her. Locks of crimson hair fell in curls around her shoulders and the indigo stripes along her cheeks were covered up with foundation. While across her eyelids were shimmers of light purple eye shadow. It took a moment before the guardian recognized herself.

"So that's a makeover," she said in near bewilderment as Botan placed her elbow on the girl's shoulder.

"You look great Mai!" she insisted and laughed, "If all the demons here were guys, they'd all be crushing over you right about now!"

"Speaking of which…" the older girl mused, "Don't we have a few specimens downstairs to try out our new creation on?" she asked the others.

Mai blinked, "What? I-I don't really think—"

"Uh, well we can always go see them later, right?" Keiko cut in after noticing the guardian's nervousness, "It's not like they're going anywhere—let's do someone else!"

The girl smiled at her in appreciation; even for being a girl, she would have been almost completely embarrassed if she had to confront the guys the way she looked. But she suddenly felt her vision blur and she clutched her head instinctively.

Standing, she cautiously made her way towards the door.

Botan glanced up quickly when she noticed her leaving, "Hey, Mai, where are you going?"

She turned back to her, "I'll be right back," she insisted and forced a grin, "I had to go get some ice before you guys 'kidnapped' me…"

"Oh, I can help you with that!" Yukina said and made a move to conjure a few ice crystals for her, but the guardian stopped her.

"Ah, don't worry about it," she said with a smile, "I'll do it myself, I don't want to trouble you or anything…besides, I think I need to take a walk or something…"

-:-

Sighing, the girl lifted the ice bucket from the machine, _might as well drop this off with the guys,_ she thought to herself while she placed the container on her hip. She blinked a few time to cure herself of her dizziness before she started back down the hall.

"Mai? Hey, Mai!"

The guardian turned to find Kuwabara trudging down the corridor after her. She stopped and waited for him to catch up.

He grinned as he came to stand next to her, "Hey! I thought it was you; you looked different—but anyway, everyone else is looking for you."

She quirked an eyebrow, "Why aren't you with them?" she wanted to know.

That was when the redhead started to laugh nervously, "Heh, see about that…we were heading up to the girls' room, but I sort of got lost…"

At this, Mai couldn't help but smile a little, "Really…"

"Do you mind if I follow you back?" he asked meekly tapping his fingers together. The guardian laughed and shook her head, gesturing the redhead to come with her as she headed back to the room.

"So how did you know where I was?" she inquired.

"Oh that, my sister and the others said that they 'kidnapped' you," he explained as they rounded a corner and down another hallway. Inwardly, Mai laughed; she should have known that Botan would come up with something like that (it made her smile when she though about the ferry-girl seriously trying to be cynical).

"It should just be around here," she told Kazuma as they headed down a new corridor. She could hear muffled voices coming from nearby. But as they started to turn another corner, Mai suddenly stopped and Kuwabara crashed into her from behind.

"Whoa! Hey, what's the holdup?" he asked, but the guardian didn't answer. She felt her eyes going wide and her hands steadily beginning to shake the bucket in her hands.

"Why didn't you tell me before?" Keiko asked softly. Yusuke blinked, obviously confused, but she continued anyway, "Why didn't you tell me where you were going…what was actually going on? I was worried sick about you!"

He watched her eyes fill with hurt, "I-I didn't want you to get caught up in all of this…" the detective tried to explain, "I didn't want you to worry…"

Keiko's eyes shot up at him, "Worry? I'm your friend, I care about you! Why wouldn't I be worried?" she blinked and her voice softened, "Why wouldn't I worry…?"

Tears began to fill her eyes and she turned her head away from him to hide her embarrassment. Urameshi said nothing for a moment and stood uncertainly, "Keiko…?"

Kuwabara now poked his head out from around the corner, "I wonder what they're talking about…" but once again the guardian didn't answer. She slowly began to feel her throat close up and her heart beating painfully in her ears. For a second, she started; why was she getting all worked-up about this?

"I don't want you getting hurt, Yusuke…" the girl said while trying to force back her tears and stay strong. She stared down at the ground for a moment but then she glanced back up at him, forcing a weak smile, "So if you die, I swear I'll kill you…" she promised and then mocked his spirit gun pose, "Bang."

It took a moment before Yusuke reacted, "Right," he replied with a soft grin.

Then it was a second or two until Keiko's smile faded and she stared back at the ground, "I…I still don't want to see you get hurt…gods you're such a reckless idiot; I'm surprised you haven't died yet," she said bitterly, but it was inevitable that she was going to break down into tears. Her fists balled up at her sides and from her hiding place, Mai saw several teardrops plummet to the ground, "You're—you're such an idiot, Yusuke!"

Unexpectedly, the brunette wrapped her arms around the detective's middle and sobbed into his shirt. Yusuke blinked once or twice as he stared down at her; unsure of what to say. After a moment, he sighed and carefully wrapped his arms around her in return.

For the briefest instant, Mai felt her heart stop and she took an instantaneous step backwards into Kazuma.

"Hey, Mai? What's wrong—?"

But instead of answering him, she shoved the ice bucket into his chest and raced blindly down an opposite hallway. The redhead juggled the container for a moment after his shock and stared worriedly down after the guardian.

"You do know you can always visit us, Keiko," Urameshi told her, "Heh, maybe then you wouldn't be so worried…"

She smiled up at him and shook her head, "I didn't want to get in your way of having fun…" she insisted.

He blinked, "Fun?"

Keiko nodded and stared off at the ground, "Mai pointed that out to me before…she said she didn't like it any more than I did, but it was what you really wanted…"

For a few seconds, Yusuke watched her before he grinned and rubbed the back of his head, "Yeah, good ol' Mai…you can always count on her to say something like that when you need to."

She smiled and nodded again, "You said she's your guardian, right? Well she better guard you and make sure you do all that schoolwork of yours when I'm not around. I might just have to come and set her straight," she told him and winked, giving him a thumbs-up sign.

The detective laughed, "Watch out, Keiko, she might be a match even for you!"

Both of them grinned at one another and Yusuke gave her a quick noogie. From the corner, Kazuma still watched after Mai—who was now long gone and probably wandering the halls alone. Was it something he had said?

-:-

The guardian stumbled through the corridors while bumping into several people (and demons) along the way. But she didn't care and kept running. Tears stung at her eyes and streamed down her face without end. Why the hell was she crying? What did she do to make herself so upset?

Without really knowing it, the guardian found herself racing up a set of stairs to who knows where. But her legs continued to carry her forward.

With her hand, she irritably wiped at her tears while her face heated with both frustration and embarrassment. Her foot caught on one of the stairs and she sprawled forward. The side of her face struck the corner of the steps and she felt a trickle of blood run down her cheek. For the longest time she merely lay there, sobbing.

They were only friends he said; he didn't want her to get hurt so they were only friends…

Then why did she feel like this?

Slowly Mai picked herself off of the ground and trudged once more up the stairs. Her mind drifted with each step she took as the staircase continued to wind continuously upwards.

Why was she acting like this? It wasn't as though they had kissed or anything—

Wait. What did that have to do with any of it? She was perfectly happy with Kurama, if Keiko and Yusuke wanted to get back together, that was perfectly fine with her…

Wasn't it?

Mai found her hand along the latch of the door that now appeared before her. As she glanced—almost emotionlessly—to the sign next to it, it read: 'Rooftop'. With a sigh, she slowly pushed open the door and immediately the cold night breeze greeted her. It caused her to draw in a sharp breath and, shuddering, she let it out.

She only took a few steps before she collapsed to her knees into the hard gravel. Gripping the dirt in her fist, she hung her head and watched her tears fall into her lap. The guardian sensed her shoulders beginning to tremble and she quickly clenched her eyes shut. But the tears continued to flow.

_What the hell is wrong with me? What's…what's happening to me—?_

"And _what_ are you so upset about, onna?"

Her head jerked up suddenly to find Hiei watched her with a quirked eyebrow. The guardian blinked and drew in a quick breath as she hurriedly wiped at her tears, "Nothing…" she mumbled and stared off at the ground, "It's…nothing…" Mai sniffed and hugged her arms around her middle, "How long have you been there?" she asked softly.

The apparition folded his arms over his chest, "Hn…since before you came and disturbed my peace," he answered irritably, "But now that you're here, you can wallow in your self-pity alone; I'm going…"

But even as he made a move to leap off the rooftop, Mai looked up at him with tearful eyes, "Hiei…?"

He flinched as he was getting ready to jump when he caught her tone of voice. Regrettably, the apparition turned back to the girl only to start when he saw the tears filling her eyes.

"What?" he dared to ask.

A teardrop trickled down her cheek; smudging the makeup that the girls had put on her, "…Please don't go," she forced a weak smile, "You may be a bit of a badass, but…but I need someone to talk to."

Hiei shoved his hands into his pockets, "Sorry, but I don't take well to human emotions; they make me ill…" he stated bluntly and started on his way back towards the edge of the roof, making ready to jump off, but the guardian cut him off again; her faked happiness suddenly gone.

"Why not?" she demanded softly, "You don't seem to mind when you're reading people's thoughts on a regular basis, do you? You know what I'm thinking; you probably know what I saw too…" her eyes filled with tears again and she looked away sadly. Hiei blinked and then began to glower after a moment. So what if he knew what she was thinking? It wasn't as though he wanted to know her business in the first place.

He abruptly found himself replaying to himself the detective's reaction earlier with his fight with Jin when they were joking around. Now that he thought about it, Urameshi seemed a bit _too_ flustered when Jin began to talk about Mai. He hadn't thought about it too much then, but now with the mixture of the guardian's feelings and emotions, it made more sense to him.

The apparition folded his arms over his chest and snorted, "Hn, baka onna…"

Mai blinked, "What?"

He didn't answer her, but the guardian noticed his eyes narrow. Mai started when Hiei suddenly drew his katana and held it out between them.

"H-Hiei?" she stammered fearfully. Oh gods, had she said something wrong? Maybe she should have just let him leave her alone—! But an instant later, there was a tingle along the back of her neck that sent her skin crawling. Quickly, she whirled around and unexpectedly found herself stumbling to her feet.

"Toguro…" the apparition growled.

His sunglasses flashed in the moonlight while he stood in the doorway. Mai clenched her fists at her side as the demon took a few steps onto the rooftop. Hiei's arm did not falter and almost looked ready to cut the man down right there. It took a moment to realize what he had against the demon, but then she remembered that Yukina had been kept prisoner by him and his brother.

The guardian felt sweat drops beginning to form along her brow as Toguro drew closer to the odd duo.

"I didn't expect to have anyone up here at this hour…I guess this place is more popular than I thought—"

"What are you doing here, Toguro?" the apparition demanded.

He turned his attention to the shorter, "To leave a message," he said simply and then turned to Mai. The guardian stiffened as the demon took a few steps more towards her. She shivered when he bent down until his head nearly pressed against the side of her own, "Tell Urameshi I'm looking forward to our fight…" she sensed him smirk as she stood there paralyzed, "I've noticed you've grown stronger as well…watch out or I might have to come after you next…"

At this, Toguro straightened and placed his hands in his pockets. The guardian said nothing but started to realize that her breath was coming out in shudders why her heart pounded in her ears.

Without so much as another word, the man turned and left the rooftop. After the door had closed with its soft click, Hiei cautiously let his katana slide back into its sheath.

"If the detective didn't have a score to settle with that bastard, I would have slit his throat," he muttered and then turned to the guardian, his eyes narrowing, "What did he say to you?" he demanded.

But Mai shook her head, unable to respond. Tears once more welled within her deep blue eyes. Blood rushed to her head and she felt her face burning. She sensed herself swaying dangerously close to the rail of the roof and she desperately clutched her head.

_I've got to protect him…I can't let him die…I…can't let Toguro hurt him…_

The apparition watched her in confusion, "…?"

…_Oh gods, I can't let anything happen to him…I…I have…to…_

Only a moment too late, Hiei suddenly realized what was happening as the girl unexpectedly toppled over the edge—twenty stories above the ground.

"ONNA!"

-:-

(a/n: I was going to end it there, but I decided that would be mean—the cliffhanger I have at the end of this chapter hopefully won't be as bad)

"You sure she's okay?" Yusuke asked as he peered through the bedroom door for a moment. Botan and Yukina had to force both the detective and Kurama out of the room where the guardian now had her back turned towards them. The only light came from the window that cast eerie shadows across the floor, "I mean, jeeze, she just fell off the building for crying out loud…" he continued worriedly.

The apparition folded his arms over his chest, "She didn't die, be thankful of that," he muttered, "I could have let her fall for all I cared…" he said as the two girls quietly exited Mai's room.

"Despite Hiei's lack of concern," Botan started, "She will be fine in a little while after some rest; I guess she was just too stressed out…and her fever didn't very well help…"

Yukina closed the door behind her softly, "I was able to heal most of the wounds from her fall, but she needs to sleep for now…"

While he sat on the couch, Kuwabara stared down at his lap. Stress? It couldn't have been from when she ran off earlier, right? He gritted his teeth slightly; it made him wonder why she had been so upset in the first place…damn, he should have gone after her…

"Did she ever say why she was up there?" Kurama asked the apparition and Kazuma lifted his head to hear his answer.

Hiei must have noticed this because he pretended as if he couldn't recall, "Something about getting some air with that damn fever of hers…" he answered shortly. Hn, the onna's business was nothing to him, but he would let them figure it out for themselves. The apparition glowered at his own response; hell, he should have just told them, it wouldn't have made any difference to him.

Kuwabara watched Hiei for another second or so before he started to stare down at the floor. Maybe it was just his imagination then…maybe it had nothing to do with what they saw. The redhead glanced towards Mai's room…

But he couldn't help but think about how upset she was…

…Just seeing Keiko and Yusuke together…

-:-

She heard muffled voices from beyond the door. After awhile each one died down and the sliver of light beneath the door when out. Mai weakly grasped the bed sheets around her hand. Her body was still shaking from before, and she couldn't make it stop nor could make her fever go down. But the guardian couldn't seem to remember any of what happened. Hiei said she had fallen? Then how did she get back to her room?

The damp rag along her forehead fell onto her pillow as she turned to face the window. Her body ached and she sighed heavily.

What was wrong with her…? In all truth, it shouldn't matter to her about who or what goes on in Yusuke's life…

She was only there to protect him…

Mai blinked and felt her heart drop with a sudden jolt. That…that was all she was needed for…nothing else…she realized abruptly and stared down at her hands. Her eyes stared out blankly across the room.

She only needed to protect him…

Once more she felt tears beginning to well up in her eyes. The guardian whimpered softly and buried her face in her pillow as she began to cry. Her shoulders trembled and she brought her hands to her mouth to stifle her sobs. Why didn't she understand before…? That she was here to protect Yusuke…nothing else…

But that still didn't make up for the feelings continuously filling within her…it didn't make up for the fact that Yusuke—

The girl shot up suddenly from the bed; eyes bolting around the room fearfully. Her ears strained for any noise.

Weird…she could have sworn—

But then she heard it again, it was coming from beneath the window…Mai felt her body starting to tremble when she comprehended the sounds of someone scaling the building wall.

_What the hell?_ Who in their right mind would try and climb a twenty-story building? Especially in the middle of the night! It didn't make sense for someone to rob _anyone_ at the Dark Tournament (everybody was smarter than that—unless of course they wanted to get their faces blown off).

She bit her lip and found herself huddling back beneath her bed sheets. What if it was Risho or one of those guys out for revenge? Her complexion paled and she began shivering, her eyes clenching shut…worse yet…what if it was Toguro? Maybe she should go and alert the others—but her body wouldn't respond.

_Gods don't let it be him…I hope it's just some…some—oh gods, I don't know, just don't let it be him!_

Mai let out a small whimper and clenched her eyes almost painfully. She wouldn't look, she didn't want to. Her body shuddered and she threw the covers up to her neck just as there was…

A knock at the window?

Inwardly, the guardian blinked. Who the hell knocked on a window if they were going to force their way in? _Toguro isn't that stupid, is he?_ But the knock came again. Mai refused to open her eyes and felt her heart stop when she heard the window beginning to slide open.

There was the sound of someone moving through the opening and stepping softly onto the carpet flooring. They paused a moment before starting towards the bedside. The girl's senses could tell that their hand was reaching out towards her. Mai waited only a moment longer until she sensed them right next to her.

Clutching the sheets to her chest and clinching shut her eyes, the guardian shot up and threw her fist straight into the intruder's face.

"STAY OUT—!"

"Holy crap, Mai!" said an all-too familiar voice. The man staggered backwards, clutching his nose, "By Yama, I think I'm bleeding…"

The guardian quickly flipped on a light and gasped, "Koenma-dono? Oh gods I'm so sorry!" she cried frantically and scrambled out from beneath her bed sheets, "I didn't hurt you that bad?" she wondered as she went to go check on the demigod.

He plopped cross-legged on the bedroom floor while he massaged the bridge of his nose delicately, "Uh…well it's not broken…" he assured her, "Jeeze, but now I know how your opponents feel…"

"Koenma-dono, I'm so sorry! I didn't recognize you!" she apologized rapidly and handed him the damp towel from her bed. The demigod took it gratefully and placed it on his nose, "But what are you doing here anyway? And through the window too…"

The 'toddler' glanced up at her, "Huh? Oh that…security locks all the doors after eleven, and when I tried to contact Botan, she didn't answer. It's a good thing your room was close to a drain pipe…"

She frowned, "That still doesn't answer why you're here…" she pointed out.

Koenma pulled the towel from his nose and looked at it for a moment, "I was getting to that," he told her and handed back the towel, "I got an emergency call from Makai during the fight earlier—"

"Do you want me to go get the others—?" she asked and started to head towards the door, but the demigod quickly shook his head.

"No…" he said, "No, Mai, the call involves you…not the others."

The guardian blinked as he began to stand, "…Me…?"

Koenma straightened his cloak and headed for the door himself, "Com on, I've temporarily been able to open a portal to Makai. Grab a coat, though," he advised as he opened the latch, "It's a bit of a walk…"

For a moment, Mai stared at him dumbly, but when the demigod stepped through the doorway, she quickly followed after him. As they crossed the main room, the guardian snatched a jacket from one of the nearby chairs while Koenma opened the front door.

"But wait!" she hissed as she closed it behind her, "You never said why this concerns me!" she tripped slightly as she tugged the coat over her pajamas.

Damn, these people were trying to kill her by dragging her around with this fever…

-:-

Mai hugged her body as she shivered beneath the cold night. Her teeth clattered behind her lips and she hopped once or twice to try and warm herself up. As she glanced up at the demigod in front of her, she noticed enviously that he was somehow unaffected by the cold. The guardian sighed and glanced off aimlessly into the trees around them.

There was a weight on her heart that would not leave; she unconsciously continued to remember seeing Yusuke and Keiko together…

She started and blinked. Was…was she jealous? There was no way in hell she could be jealous…what was there to be jealous _of_?

Sighing again, she forced her hands into her pockets and stared out in front of her where the male youth was leading her. She was amazed he even knew where they were going; she could barely see five feet in front of her. The guardian bit her lip as her eyes stared blankly out into space.

"It's just up ahead," the demigod pointed out suddenly.

But even as he was speaking, Mai was able to make out a faint shimmer of light between the trees in front of them. As they broke through the branches, the duo entered a small clearing where a portal of light hovered in midair.

Koenma went and gestured towards it, "After you," he said with a small smile.

She nodded weakly and took a step forward into the portal. Gods she sure hoped that she wasn't in any trouble…

A blast of wind rushed past her as well as a flash of light. An instant later, she found herself standing within the large hallways of King Yama's castle. Another second past before she heard Koenma follow after her. But as he walked ahead of her, the guardian had to blink when she realized he had changed back into his toddler form. He walked down the hallway until he had reached the giant oak doors to his office.

Mai caught up with him, "Am I in trouble, or something?" she asked meekly.

The demigod shook his head as he pushed open the doors, "No you're not in any trouble, Mai…" he assured her.

Cautiously, the guardian stepped into the office as Koenma closed the doors behind them. The thud they created echoed through the—almost empty—room eerily while she stood there dumbstruck; her mouth hanging open in disbelief.

"It…it can't be…"

-:-

a/n: MWAHAHAHA! I'm so evil!

Haha, but I'll give anyone a cookie if they can figure out who it is! (It's actually pretty obvious—coughexcepttosomepeoplecoughcough—at least if you were paying attention to a certain chapter earlier…:shifty eyes:)

AHHHHHHHHHH! **SPIRIT BEAST PEOPLES! **I know Sarah1281 wants me to have one for Mai and Umeko Saito doesn't really, but what about the rest of you? PLEASE TELL ME!

Ciao!


	23. Burning Up

DISCLAIMER: I don't own YYH, but all my original characters and story plots (at least the parts that I tweak from the show) are mine—so please, if you want to use my ideas, ask first.

a/n: ….uhhhh….

Kitkat isn't feeling all that well at the moment so there really isn't much to say. But I was a little surprised that no one guessed who it was in Koenma's office—haha, O well, cookies for everyone anyway!

Just as a little heads up, this chapter may be a bit confusing, but at least I'm updating…

YEAH SPRING BREAK!

Thankies to all my reviewers!

Kraz: …okay…no offense, but that's just plain creepy. Sorry that you've been grounded permanently off the computer—hell, you might not be able to read this anyway…

Umeko Saito: Haha, thank you! Don't worry—Puu is too unique to replicate; I would have had to use too much energy :nervous laugh: ah well.

Little Sakura 87: Don't you worry, you're not alone (when I gave one of my friends the rough draft, it took them at least an entire class period to guess who it was). Yeah I kind of assumed that would have been a bit _too_ evil, so I toned down the cliffhanger at least by a little bit…

Sarah1281: yeah, we all know he has issues (I hope he can't read this now…or in the future :sweatdrop:) anyway, you need to update (and you know very well which story I mean) unless you've already done so by the time I finish this chapter…

XxXHellzFire AngelXxX: LoL, well you'll just have to see, won't you?

Daylight dancer: Thank you! Um…I think I've seen it before, but that was awhile ago I think…

Sarah1281 (again): yeah, you better not tell them who it is :evil glare: haha, but they'll all find out really really soon!

Yahaku-kan: Yay! It's a new reviewer! And I'm so happy that you think that! (we all wish that we could have more reviews, don't we? LoL, but that doesn't always seem to work :nervous laugh:)

Shadowkitsune7: Thank you so much! I'm glad that you were able to find my story; I hope you enjoy the next chapter too!

_Thoughts_

_With Every Drop of Blood_

:Burning Up:

Looking around the room, no one—at first—would have noticed the young woman before them, looking up at the screen with a small smile. When she heard the door open and close, she swiftly turned towards them; obviously awaiting their arrival. Mai felt her body go numb and could only stare in disbelief at the crimson-haired beauty in front of her.

When the shock had finally set in, she shook her head as tears began to well up within her eyes. Unable to control herself, she stumbled forward and wrapped her arms tightly around the apparition, "Kira…" the girl sobbed into the other's kimono while her body began to tremble. The former guardian smiled weakly and returned the embrace.

Neither of them said anything while Mai continued to cry. It was too good to be true…but it was impossible; she had even felt Kira die herself—there wasn't any way on heaven or earth that the apparition was here now. And yet she was able to feel her arms hugging her protectively. The guardian held tighter as if she was afraid to let go and lose her forever. The only person she had eve loved like a sister—maybe even a mother—had died and come back to life.

After awhile, the apparition wiped a few strands of hair out of the girl's tearful face and smiled, "You know…I may be dead, but I still have to breathe once in awhile."

Mai choked on a laugh and wiped her eyes free of tears. Overcome with joy, she couldn't help but smile. But then she turned to the toddler now sitting at his desk, "But…but I thought you said…" she trailed off.

The demigod shrugged with a grin, "Well, she surprised me too…" he admitted, "Never thought I'd see the likes of her in my office again. But you still have plenty of tricks up your sleeves, don't you Kira?" he inquired and turned towards the former guardian.

She smiled again in return, "Honestly, I'm a bit surprised myself, I only expected myself to get as far as passing on. I guess I had more energy stored up than I thought," she confessed and awkwardly scratched the back of her neck.

"So what's going to happen to you?" Mai asked, a bit worried, "Won't you go to Rekai?"

"That's where our problem occurs," Koenma cut in, "You see, the space we had planned for Kira when she first died has now since been filled up—and since we had no idea as to when she would pass on, we couldn't find a space for her."

The guardian blinked, "So you're stuck here?" she asked.

"I guess temporarily…" she answered, "But my energy is dying away quickly; I can't stay here forever, especially if a place doesn't open up for me—"

"But can't you go back inside of me? If you had enough energy to make it to Rekai maybe then—"

Koenma shook his head, "It doesn't work that way, Mai; it was a miracle she was able to do it in the first place; if we attempted to do the same thing now, the strain would kill you both—not that it matters for Kira, that is."

The older girl smiled encouragingly, "And we can't lose you, can we Mai? You still have to finish this tournament," she laughed when she saw Mai's look of surprise, "Don't worry, I've been watching you while I've been waiting—you've gotten so strong so quickly! I'm so proud of you!" she said as she beamed.

But the guardian didn't return the smile, "How…how long do you have?" she whispered quietly.

Both the demigod and the apparition glanced at one another. For the longest time, neither of them said anything until Mai heard Koenma sigh heavily; making her dread his answer.

"…Twenty-four hours…give or take…" he replied quietly.

"A day?" she repeated and quickly turned to the girl next to her, "You can only have that long? Then…then what happens to you?" she dared to ask.

Kira stared down at the ground, "Nothing…I'll simply cease to exist…" she answered without looking at her directly, "Unless by some miracle an unnamed space opens up in Rekai…that's what will happen—"

"That's not fair," Mai cut her off suddenly. Both Koenma and the guardian noticed how her hands balled into a fist, "It's…it's not fair…"

The demigod sighed, "Mai, that's just the way it is; there is nothing else we can do," he tried to reason, but by the look on her face, he could tell that he wasn't getting through.

"It's not fair!" she raised her voice now and whirled on Kira, "Why can't you just go to Rekai? You deserve it after all you've done! You don't deserve to just disappear!" Tears started to fill her eyes painfully—gods she had cried _way_ too much in one day. She shook her head, fervently in denial, "You can't leave again, Kira!"

Her hands covered her face now and her shoulders began to tremble. Before either of them could try and comfort her, the guardian dropped to her knees and sobbed into her hands. Uncertainly, the older girl glanced towards Koenma, but she soon found tears filling her own eyes. Quietly, she knelt next to her and without having to be coaxed; Mai fell into her waiting arms. The former guardian gently placed a hand against the girl's head while her shoulders shook violently. A silent tear trickled down Kira's face, but she said nothing.

"It's not fair, Kira…" she sobbed, "Gods, it's just not fair! You don't deserve this…"

The apparition forced a weak smile, "It was my choice…I've lived longer than I should have anyway—"

But Mai suddenly whirled on the demigod sitting at his desk, "Why can't you fix this?" she demanded, "You know what she's done for the world—you know she deserves better than this!"

"Mai…it's not his fault…" Kira explained and held her tighter, "…You know that I chose this on my own…"

She shook her head again and buried her face into the former guardian's shoulder. Both the older girl and Koenma stared uncertainly at one another, but Mai's crying seemed almost uncontrollable. Before they could find a way to calm her down, the two oak doors carefully opened and Ayame stepped inside.

"Koenma sir, is everything alright?" she asked softly after observing the two guardians kneeling on the floor.

The demigod nodded, "Everything is fine, Ayame…" he glanced briefly at the two girls, "But would you mind taking Mai out into the hallway for a moment? I need to speak with Kira for only a second…"

She nodded and silently made her way towards the guardian. After a few stressed moments, she reluctantly pried herself away and to her feet as the ferry-girl led her out into the corridor.

When the door had closed, Koenma turned to the remaining girl with a sigh.

A silence filled between them, prior to Kira speaking, "What are you keeping from her?"

The toddler stared down at his folded hands, "I might have a way to buy some time…" he explained quietly.

"Why didn't you tell Mai, then?" she asked without looking at him.

He managed a dry grin, "For one thing, it may not work at all; I wouldn't want to get her hopes up if that was the case…and another, you may not like the idea."

-:-

Mai had no idea when or where she fell asleep, but by the time she had finally come to her senses, she found herself once more in the hotel room. It took her a moment to realize this, but even then it had no real effect on her…

Kira was leaving her again…

…and this time for good…

The guardian sighed; all she wanted to do was make it all go away…as though if she closed her eyes, everything would be better…

If she just closed her eyes—

A bright light suddenly shone in her eyes and on instinct, the girl squinted and pulled the covers up to her head.

"Rise and shine," said Genkai's blunt voice, "—Don't give me that look," she added swiftly when she noticed the guardian's disgruntled expression, "Your fever went down an hour ago when you stopped talking in your sleep…"

She blinked and paled, "About what?" she was afraid to ask as the old woman wrapped her mask around her head.

Genkai turned to her and after a pause, she merely turned towards the door.

"Come on…"

-:-

Mai glanced uncertainly around the clearing and then back towards Genkai. The older woman stood with her back towards her and her hands folded behind her. She blinked and huddled against the morning chill.

"Are…are we not training today?" she asked. So far Genkai had hardly said a word to her…she blushed furiously when she remembered that she had heard her talking in her sleep. Was it something she had said? Oh gods, maybe she had said something about Yusuke and Keiko—she probably though she was such a—

"You need to understand, Mai," the old woman suddenly cut off her thoughts, "Just because Yusuke has learned how to perform the spirit wave, doesn't mean his training is over."

The guardian blinked, "What?"

"Yusuke has one more test," she explained with a sigh, "I'm asking you—no matter what his test is—you are not to interfere…"

She stared at her in surprise; what kind of test could it possibly be if Genkai had to tell her not to interfere? It made her shudder; what was she planning? Was it really _that_ dangerous?

But…if it really was dangerous, she couldn't just sit there and just watch him suffer—she was his guardian, dammit; it wasn't her job to sit back and watch him go on with his life. She was supposed to protect him.

Slowly, Mai shook her head, "I…I can't…" she whispered, but wouldn't look her in the eye, "…I can't keep that promise, Genkai…I've already made a promise to Yusuke that I would protect him…no matter what…"

The older woman observed her for a moment longer with a stern gaze, "If you're going to keep that promise…you _can't_ interfere. Unless you want him to die when he fights Toguro, you have to step down and let him finish this test."

Mai stared at her, but her face was unreadable. She waited a second more, but soon found that she could not find anything to respond with. How…how could she expect her to just watch as he suffered? Wasn't there anything she could do to help him?

She suddenly heard Genkai sigh heavily, "Please, Mai…if you can't trust me, at least trust him—"

From behind them, the bushes suddenly began to rustle. In an instant, Genkai had disappeared just as Yusuke and Botan appeared from beyond the trees.

"There you are!" the ferry-girl chimed, "We were afraid something had happened to you when you weren't in bed this morning—!"

"How's your fever?" Yusuke quickly cut in.

The guardian didn't answer right away; she was almost too terrified to look at him. He didn't know that she had seen him the night before, but it sure as hell felt like the entire world did (not to mention Kuwabara could have opened his big fatmouth). There was a silence that suddenly filled the void between them.

Urameshi's gaze softened, "Mai…"

"Well since both of you are here," Botan quickly interrupted, "I guess we don't have to keep Koenma waiting any longer!"

Mai found herself blinked, "Why?"

"Oh! That's because Yusuke's spirit beast is about to hatch!" she explained brightly.

But the detective only stared at her dumbly, "My what?"

Botan sighed in exasperation, "Honestly, Yusuke, do you normal forget these things so quickly? The egg that you sacrificed to save Keiko? It's about to hatch already…"

She rolled her eyes and gestured for the pair to follow her. They trailed from behind slowly as Mai held her arm without saying a word. She felt Yusuke's eyes on her and her cheeks flushed a bright red.

The guardian heard him sigh, "Mai, if there's something bothering you, you can always—"

"It's nothing," she cut him off. For a second, he stopped walking and looked at her downcast eyes. When she finally glanced up at him in return, she had forced a weak smile, "I'm fine."

Even though she seemed to convince him, there was no true happiness behind it. She hated lying to him; but there was no way she could possibly tell him what was the matter with her…he'd probably hate her…And she couldn't bear that; if Yusuke or any of the others hated her for that, she wouldn't be able to stand it—

"Koenma sir?" Botan called through the trees as they entered another clearing. As they turned each of them noticed the demigod approaching them. In his hands he carried a gold-tinted egg. Mai noticed the detective eyeing it warily as the toddler came to stand next to him. The guardian had a feeling he wasn't happy with her either…she had, after all, lashed out at him the other night.

The demigod promptly dropped the egg in Yusuke's hands, "About time you all showed up; it's ready to hatch any second," his expression turned grim and he glanced between the guardian and the detective, "Whatever beast hatches from it reflects the true intentions of your heart; if your actions have been evil, the spirit beast will devour you and your soul so that you will simply cease to exist…"

At this, Mai sensed him glanced her way, _isn't that ironic; I'll lose two people like this…_she thought bitterly.

"The same goes for you, Mai," Koenma said, turning towards the guardian.

She blinked, "Pardon?"

"Ever since you became Yusuke's guardian, a second spirit beast has been honed within that egg. So the actions of both of you affect both beasts," he explained, "The energy that both you and he created earlier was enough to give the spirit beasts strength to hatch."

Both the guardian and Urameshi glanced uncertainly one another.

Yusuke, however, decided to add his own humor to the subject, "Would you mind defining evil—?" he started to ask.

But he was suddenly cut off as a flash of lightning tore itself away from the heavens and struck the egg in his hands. Everyone shielded their eyes against the light. On instinct—and almost to her horror—Mai latched onto the detective's arm. Through their half-closed eyes, they noticed the egg in Yusuke's hands beginning to glow a bright yellow as cracks began to split the shell. Mai found herself clutching Urameshi's arm even tighter—gods, she didn't want to be eaten!

By the time the light had disappeared, everyone had to take a moment to regain their sight. As they glanced around, however, neither spirit beast was to be seen…

The detective peered around the clearing, "Maybe the egg was rotten…" he joked.

The guardian lessened her grip to give herself enough room to smack him over the head and say 'Urameshi, you idiot!' but something stopped her. She blinked dumbly at the top of his head, "Eh…?"

Koenma and Botan switched their attention to where Mai was looking. Suddenly the ferry-girl burst out laughing and clutched her stomach as she doubled over from her giggles. The demigod blinked and Mai could have sworn that his pacifier nearly fell out of his mouth, but then he too started laughing.

The detective glanced to the girl next to him, "It can't possibly be that stupid-looking, can it?" he asked as he tried to catch a glimpse of whatever it was on top of his head.

She made a weak coughing sound, "Ah…well, it's…erm…I think it's cute!" she blurted.

He stared at her in disbelief, "Cute?" he repeated, "There is no way in hell that this thing is anywhere near—"

"Puu!"

This only caused more laughter from Botan and Koenma. Now pissed, Yusuke growled under his breath and suddenly snatched whatever it was off of his head. He found himself blinking stupidly at the blue, penguin-like creature in his hands.

"It even has your hair!" Botan giggled, "Haha, but when I picture Yusuke's disposition, I see scales and beady eyes—but I guess cute and furry is another way to go—!" the detective glowered and quickly hit her over the head, "Hey! What was that for?"

Koenma wiped a tear from his eye, but then glanced towards the guardian, "Uh…where's yours?"

She blinked and looked around, "That's a good question…" she trailed off when she felt something brush against her leg. She blinked again and glanced down at her feet.

The ferry-girl had now regained some of her composure and quirked an eyebrow at the creature, "Is it a rabbit?"

"I think it's more like a cat…" the demigod mused and squatted next to it.

"Whatever it is, it sure beats this thing," Yusuke said while holding his by the scruff of the neck as it wriggled and continued to cheerfully sing out 'Puu!'

Mai bent down and gently picked it up in her arms. It _did_ kind of look like a cat…only with really long (rabbit-like) ears that twitched happily as it started to purr.

"Aw! But it's so cute!" Botan said and beamed.

The guardian couldn't help but smile also—hey, it sure beat getting devoured. She found herself beaming, "Hello there!" she chimed at the black and white fur ball.

It seemed to cock its head towards her and smile.

"Hello to you too, Mai."

"Eh?" in her shock, the guardian dropped the cat-like creature from her hands, "What the hell?"

"It talked," Yusuke said in disbelief and then stared at the spirit beast in his grip, "How come _you_ can only say 'Puu'?" he demanded of it.

"Puu!" it cheered and his large floppy ears flapped merrily.

Mai bent down cautiously until her eyes were nearly level with the creature. Odd…that voice sounded familiar…it almost sounded like…

"Kira?"

(a/n: once again, I was going to end it there, but that would have been probably as mean as before)

…

"Eh?" the guardian blinked and glanced around hurriedly, "Ko-Koenma…? Would you mind explaining this….?"

The male youth rubbed the back of his neck, "Heh, well you see…we did eventually find a place to put Kira's soul…"

"In there?" she cried and pointed to the creature, "You couldn't find a more respectable place, at all?"

"At least it's only temporary…" Kira put off-handedly (while Botan and Yusuke remained almost entirely bewildered of what they were talking about), "think of this as a rent-out body until they can find a space for me in Rekai…"

But the guardian could only blink. It wasn't as though she wasn't happy about having her back…it was just a little odd to be talking to her through a cat…

"Don't worry, Mai," the former guardian said, "I won't have to stay here forever…Koenma thinks that there should be an open space in no more than a few days," she grinned, showing her newly pointed teeth, "But you can always visit, don't worry!"

Yusuke now leaned over—still holding his spirit beast in his hands, "Kira, right?" and then turned to the guardian, "She's the one you told me about?"

She found her blushing when she recalled the reminiscence (gods she had acted like such an idiot then…) but she managed a meek nod, "Yeah…though I can tell you she didn't look like this the last time I saw her…"

"Really…" he mused and glanced down at the cat-like creature, "so what was it like living in that crazy mind of hers?" he wondered. Mai's eye ticked dangerously, and before he could notice, she quickly smacked him over the head.

The guardian folded her arms over her chest and muttered, "Jerk…"

"Puu!" Yusuke's spirit beast squealed and flapped its ears wildly. Wrenching itself from the detective's grip, he flew quickly to Mai's shoulder where he nuzzled her affectionately.

Koenma made an awkward coughing noise, "Uh…did I mention that you're spirit beasts reflect your personalities and emotions?" he asked.

Urameshi flushed furiously at his cheeks and quickly gripped the creature by the scruff of its neck, "Get back here," he muttered, even though he sounded rather flustered.

The guardian watched him unsurely, but Yusuke appeared to by trying to avoid her gaze. She was almost ready to say something to him, but then she felt Kira nudging her with a paw.

Glancing down, she noticed her looking at her strangely. She paused for a moment before she stood quickly.

"I have to go…" she said almost monotonously as she headed off into the trees.

The remaining three stared after her dumbly as Kira trotted after her.

"I wonder what's gotten into her?" Botan asked worriedly.

-:-

"Mai?" the former guardian tried to catch a glimpse of her face, "Mai what's wrong—?"

She cut herself off when she noticed a tear plummet to the ground. A sniff soon followed as the girl wiped irritably at her eyes, but when she turned to face Kira, shad had managed a poor excuse for a smile.

"What?" does something look wrong?" she asked with faked cheeriness.

Kira sighed heavily, "Mai…"

"I'm just going for a walk, that's all…" she insisted, "Haven't been feeling that well lately, you know…" she turned back in the direction she was heading and continued forward without another word.

She sniffed again. She was lying to herself…something was wrong with her, but she just didn't' know what. The guardian shook her head instinctively—what was happening to her? She couldn't control these feelings or the powers coursing through her—

Was she just supposed to die from this pain?

Her hand reached out to a nearby tree to steady herself as tears began to cascade down her face. Kira's creature-form let out a soft 'mew' as she cocked her head up at her.

Mai suddenly let out a bitter laugh, "…What's happening to me, Kira?" she froze like that for a moment, her wry smile held in time just seconds before it faced, "Why…can't I control any of this?"

There was a silence from the former guardian, but before she could respond, she suddenly turned. Mai heard her let out a low hiss, and she quickly turned as well. A rustle of bushes resounded ahead of them.

_Yusuke…?_

But the man who revealed himself was not the detective.

She felt her nails digging into her palm, "What to do you want, Toguro?" she demanded and raised her index finger towards him, "I'm not afraid to fight you…"

The apparition smirked in amusement, "And then I'd simply take you down with one hit," he returned casually as his sunglasses flashed dangerously.

"There isn't anything for you here," she growled darkly, "You made you 'message' quite clear the other night…unless you're here to fight me, you're not worth my time…" she kept her finger raised towards him a moment longer before she lowered it and continued on her way across the clearing. But before she had gotten too far, she suddenly felt his iron-like grip around her arm.

Furiously, she whipped around to face him. Nearby, she could hear Kira growling menacingly.

For the longest time, the apparition merely stared at her through those cold black eyes behind his sunglasses; his hold on her arm never lessening. The guardian gritted her teeth and tried to stare back at him with just as much ferocity, but against her will, her body began to tremble.

Then his grip tightened around her wrist and she let out a small cry of pain.

He smirked again, "Do you now what's so ironic?" he mused casually as Mai began to clinch her teeth, "…Is that I was first attracted to _your_ power…it fascinated me; I had never had the privilege of fighting a guardian. It was something that I had always had an interest in…" there was a deep chuckle from within his throat as his grip seemed to draw her closer towards him even as she tried to pull away, "But when you and Urameshi came to Tarukane's mansion, there was something about the passion he had when he fought…" there was a sudden glint in his eyes, "the passion he had when he was protecting _you_."

"Shut up…" she muttered under her breath.

Toguro cocked a mocking eyebrow, "What's wrong? I'd think that you'd want him to protect you; after the way you look at him—I'm surprised you aren't ecstatic."

The guardian gritted her teeth furiously and her eye became hooded and dark. An aura—darker and more menacing than before—hovered around her.

"Shut up—bastard, just shut up!" she shouted and her fists clenched furiously. The energy around her began to pulse, and even Kira seemed to back away from its presence. Toguro on the other hand, watched in amusement and would not let her go.

Instead, as her energy started to rise drastically, his other hand suddenly lashed out and—almost immediately—clenched around her delicate throat. Mai felt her body collide with the tree behind her and she winced painfully. She let out a strained cry as her air supply was abruptly cut short. The energy around her disappeared instantly.

The demon's grip tightened around her throat and she let out a small gasp of air. Her eyes opened weakly so that she was just barely able to make out Toguro's form. Her hands tried desperately to pry his grip away from her neck.

"Just so Urameshi gets my message this time…he still needs to get stronger before he'll be worth fighting—but when he's ready, I'll enjoy every moment," he growled and the guardian could feel his hot breath against her skin.

She gritted her teeth and gasped, "…Let…go…"

"TOGURO!"

He paused and then turned almost leisurely towards the call, bringing Mai with him. Her feet dangled off the ground and swayed back and forth when the demon turned.

Across from them, Yusuke stood at the edge of the clearing with his finger pointed directly at Toguro. The fire that burned in his eyes was deadly and he looked as though he was ready to kill at the drop of a dime. The tip of his finger started to glow a dull blue, but his eyes refused to leave from Toguro.

"Put…her…down," he growled darkly.

The demon smirked and glanced down at the guardian suffocating in his grip. Without acknowledging her, he suddenly hurled her into the tree behind her. There was the sickening cracking of wood as Mai crumpled to the ground.

"Don't bother trying to kill me, Urameshi," he told him coolly, "Until you're stronger, I won't waste my time on you…"

Placing his hands in his pockets, the apparition walked calmly across the clearing. Yusuke's finger followed him until he had disappeared beyond the trees. His hand shook furiously, even after Toguro was gone and he lowered his arm. For a moment, he stared after the demon, but when his gaze caught sight of the guardian's crumpled body, the hatred in his eyes quickly died away.

"Mai…" Urameshi went and carefully lifted the girl to her knees, "Mai!"

Gently, he shook her shoulders and prayed that she would open her eyes. After what seemed like an eternity, the guardian took a shuddering breath, and her eyes slowly opened. She blinked a few times and almost seemed to stare at him blankly.

"What the hell did he do to you?" he demanded when the guardian hung her head. The grip on her shoulders tightened, "Mai, what did he say?"

Her eyes became hidden beneath her veil of crimson hair. But from within, the detective could hear her quiet sobs while her shoulders trembled. Teardrops fell from behind her hair, but she didn't seem to try and prevent them from coming.

Yusuke slowly let go of her and her fists clenched at the ground beneath her. He watched as the tears streamed down her face; his gaze softened as she continued to cry.

He sighed, but said nothing. After a long, hesitant pause, the detective found himself reaching out to her. And without waiting for a reaction, his arms suddenly wrapped around her and pulled her towards his chest.

It was almost as if she hadn't even noticed, but her sobs continued. Her tears stained his shirt, even though Urameshi didn't seem to mind. The detective wrapped his arms around her in a protective fashion just as he felt her hands clutching weakly at his shirt.

Both of them sat in silence for the longest time—all save for Mai's muffled sobs. From a little ways off, Kira watched the pair curiously with her head cocked. Yusuke pressed her tighter to him and Mai let out a small hiccup.

"You're…You're hopeless you know that?" he said quietly.

-:-

There was a soft knocking at the door, "Mai…?"

Urameshi carefully cracked open the door to the guardian's room. She was lying o top of the covers, staring out the window. Cautiously, he made his way to her bedside while holding out a glass of water.

"Kurama said you might need some of this…he added some herbs or something that he thought might make you feel better—"

"Get out," she said suddenly. The guardian refused to look at him and continued to stare out the window.

He blinked, stunned for a moment. But then his eyes narrowed, "What are you talking about? What the hell has gotten into you lately?"

The girl blinked after a pause, but said nothing.

Angry now, Yusuke suddenly slammed the glass on the nightstand. The guardian winced, but other than that, she made no other movement.

"Dammit, Mai! What the hell is wrong?" he hissed—trying not to alert their companions, "If it's about Toguro, get over it! I'm going to make sure that bastard never touches you again, don't you understand that?"

He found himself gripping her by the shoulders and lifting her halfway off the bed. Mai looked up at him blankly—but there was a hint of sadness deep within those violet-speckled eyes. When the detective noticed this, he blinked in surprise and gently loosened his grip.

"Mai…?"

"Please, Yusuke…just…go away…"

Yusuke stared at her in surprise—and also with a bit of hurt in his eyes. Slowly, he released her shoulders and the girl put an arm out beside her to steady herself. But her eyes stared off at the ground absently and she refused to look at him.

A heavy silence filled out between them; Yusuke stared at her in worry, and Mai looking vacantly off somewhere else. An eternity seemed to pass before the detective sighed.

"Whatever…I was only worried about you, Mai," he muttered as he turned back towards the door. But as he opened it, he cringed at the next thing that he said:

"I don't want you to get hurt."

With that, he closed the door behind him and left the guardian in the darkness. But through the gloom, Mai's hand slowly clenched the bed sheets between her fingers and a silent tear rolled down the side of her face. Eventually, her shoulders shook once again and her arms wrapped themselves around her abdomen.

What was happening to her? If it had just been for the fact that these powers were new to her, she would have been able to deal with it. But these feelings…gods, these feelings were tearing her apart.

Kira crawled out from beneath the bed and cocked her head up at her. Her bright green eyes studied her quizzically. But she said nothing and nimbly leapt into the girl's lap. The former guardian set her head on Mai's knee.

It took a moment before she slowly placed her hand along the top of Kira's head.

With a bitter laugh, she stared blankly out through the window, "I…really suck at this, did you know that?" slowly, her wry smile faded, "…I don't know what's happening to me…let alone…let alone how to control any of it."

The former guardian lifted her head for a moment and noticed tears running along the girl's face. Mai gritted her teeth weakly and clenched her free hand.

She turned her head slowly towards the open window; her tear-filled eyes staring out vacantly.

"I'm so pitiful…I could almost cry…" she whispered wryly.

-:-

Yusuke leaned up heavily against the doorframe as he held his head in his hand. From behind the door, he could hear the guardian crying again, but he just couldn't bring himself to open it again. Through his hands, he let out a heavy sigh and then stared up at the ceiling above him.

"There has to be something wrong with me…" he told himself. After a long pause, he pulled himself away from the door and made his way back the main living area where the others were waiting. He didn't say a word to any of them, but took his place directly next to Kuwabara.

Only about an instant later, Puu flapped over towards the detective and landed straight onto his head. Urameshi didn't make a move to pull the creature off (though it wouldn't have done much good, anyway); instead, he stared transfixed at the table in front of him.

The others in the room seemed to catch the feeling that he didn't want to be disturbed at the particular moment. Hiei, on the other hand, glanced towards the detective quizzically as he sat away from the group near the window. His crimson eyes then found their way to Kurama who was quietly shuffling the playing cards.

Botan, of course, was the first to break the silence, "Alright folks," she announced, trying to get everyone else in the cheery mood, "The game is Dai Hin Min, last one to get rid of their cards loses, got it? Okay, Kurama, deal out the cards!"

The redhead divided the cards, but after a moment he paused and glanced up towards Hiei. The apparition nearly cringed at his cheerful grin.

"Why don't you play cards with us, Hiei?" he asked casually, "After all, we're practically family."

At this, the apparition's eye began to tick as Botan and Kuwabara burst into laughter, and Kurama was trying to suppress his own with a smile. Keiko and Yukina, however, appeared to be left out of the joke and looked inquisitively at one another.

The detective, on the other hand, seemed oblivious to the comment and stared blankly down at the cards in his hands. Without realizing it, his knuckles had gone white from clenching the cards between his fingers.

What he couldn't get out of his mind was why Mai looked at him like that…There was pain in her eyes, as if she was almost sad to see him. His brow furrowed darkly—if Toguro had done _anything_ to make her act this way, he would make sure that he was going to regret it.

-:-

Kira suddenly lifted her head and glanced around the room. The lights beyond the door had gone out, and now the only luminescence that came from the room now was the dull glow of moonlight through the window. It was clear that everyone else had gone to bed, judging by the silence in the other rooms, but something had caused the former guardian to wake up.

Her ears twitched and her head turned towards the open window where Koenma stood waiting. She yawned and stretched as the demigod made his way over towards the bed. Kira moved slowly so not to wake up Mai sleeping next to her.

"You found a space already," she said. It wasn't a question.

He nodded slowly, "Not half an hour ago…but I can only hold it off for so long."

The former guardian sighed heavily and glanced briefly towards the girl sleeping peacefully before returning her attention back towards the demigod, "You have really bad timing for these things…" she stated bluntly, "But truthfully, this body is getting on my nerves," she added, trying to shed some light on the subject.

But without waiting for a response from him, Kira closed her eyes slowly. There was a thin aura that surrounded her, but it soon began to pull away from the creature as Kira herself appeared next to the bed. Her body, however, was translucent and the beams of moonlight passed straight through her. The former guardian sighed again and stared down at Mai for a final time.

Leaning over, she gently kissed her along her forehead and brushed a few strands of the girl's crimson hair out of her face. After a pause, the former guardian straightened and turned back to the demigod with a small smile.

"Tell her to visit me sometime, Koenma," she told him and sent him a grin, just as her body began to fade away, "I want her to tell me how this tournament ended up, alright?"

He returned the smile, "I'll make sure she hears it from me," he assured her.

Kira continued to smile, even as the final remains of her body shimmered and disappeared into the air. The demigod was left alone in the room with Mai sleeping along the bed.

'_I'll see you in Rekai…'_

-:-

a/n:nervous laugh: yeah, sorry if that was confusing (I think this cold has messed with my brain or something…)

ANYway! I'm glad I got this done with! And since it's spring break, I might even feel up to updating again sometime this week!

Hey, and you know what I just noticed? (Despite my pictures) I really think I pictured Mai's hair looking something like Belldandy's from Ah My Goddess (only red).

…wow, but that was random—anywhos, I better go get some lunch everyone!

Ciao!


	24. Rebirth: Phase 2

DISCLAIMER: I don't own YYH, but my original characters and twists to the original plot, _are_ mine—so please, if you're going to use my ideas, ask first.

a/n: damn cold…anywhos, I have nothing better to do right now, so I should probably get going with this next chapter pretty soon, shouldn't I?

Cookies to my reviewers!

Little Sakura 87: (:nervous laugh:) yeah, I think part of the reason Mai was so depressed was because I wasn't feeling all that well when I was writing the last chapter. Hehe, yeah it does kind of look like Ken-ohki (or however you spell it), but probably a _little_ more cat-like…

Umeko Saito: LoL, I wouldn't really consider it a "talk-show", haha, but that's okay! Well on the subject of Belldandy/Mai's hair…I did say "something" like Belldandy's, so I'm thinking it's definitely shorter.

Shadowkitsune7: Okay, okay, here's your update! (although, judging by my enthusiasm, it might take me awhile to get this chapter up :nervous laugh:)

Fangimation: (:nervous laugh:) uh, heh-heh…well I won't really get into the relationship thing…um…:backs away slowly: LoL, don't worry, though…um, well just don't be mad at me :sweatdrop: (I hope you continue reading, if that counts as anything)

_Thoughts_

_With Every Drop of Blood_

:Rebirth: Phase 2:

'_I'll see you in Rekai…'_

Slowly, Mai's eyes fluttered open and blinked into the sunlight streaming through the window in front of her. She sat there for a moment, listening to the silence that enveloped her…the death-like silence that—oddly enough—seemed to fit her mood.

The guardian absently fingered a strand of hair between her fingers as she rolled onto her back. Without really noticing it, she began painting pictures in her head with the cracks along the ceiling.

What finally brought her thoughts back to reality was when she felt something gently prodding her stomach. Glancing down, she found herself staring at a pair of bright green eyes. She managed a weak smile and rubbed her between the ears gently.

"Hey Kira…" she said quietly.

"Mew…?"

She blinked and stared at the creature curiously before she laughed dryly, "What? Are you not going to talk to me today? Alright, that's just great because I don't feel like it either…"

It started to purr and rubbed against her hand, "Mew."

Mai stopped and suddenly lifted herself to the sitting position. She stared in disbelief at the spirit beast as she picked it up between her hands, "Kira?"

But the former guardian wouldn't answer her. It was a long time before she suddenly realized what had happened. Gently, she hugged the creature to her and stared down at its bright emerald eyes.

"You better be happy up there, Kira…" she said quietly to no one, "Heh, this is the last time I'm going to tell you that, 'cause you better stay up there this time; I'm not going to be very happy if I have to see you go a third time…"

Her spirit beast mewed again and crawled up to her shoulders. Its tail gently swished around her neck while the rest of its body took up the guardian's right shoulder.

She managed another small grin and gently rubbed between the creature's ears, "…Now what am I supposed to call you now?" she mused, "It would seem a little odd calling you Kira from now on…" it cocked its head up at her again and she smiled weakly, "But unlike Urameshi, I'm not going to call you 'Mew'…"

For a moment, the guardian's eyes went blank as she stared down at her spirit beast. It was almost as if she had suddenly gone numb while her expression became emotionless.

"…Hywein…" she whispered, "…Hywein…"

"God only knows that we need more of that in the world," Genkai said suddenly (a/n: Hywein means 'hope').

Mai jumped and turned towards the door where the shorter woman stood watching her. The guardian quietly slid off the side of the bed and stood. She paused for a moment, "Where did everyone else go?" she asked softly.

"To watch the fight," she answered, "They said they didn't want to wake you up—but if it were up to me, I would have forced you up off that sorry ass or yours," the guardian noticed something flash across her eyes. Genkai paused before she continued; her stern gaze never wavering, "Before I would have thought that you were strong enough to get over this."

The guardian started in surprise. For a moment she stared at the woman in hurt, but then she glanced down at her hands. Any other time, she would have asked how she knew what was wrong with her, but the girl knew better than that and that Genkai had her ways of realizing these things. Especially since Mai was always so transparent.

But it wasn't like an opponent she could just fight off; these were her emotions that she was battling with…it was a fight she couldn't win. She couldn't control her feelings…she never could…

She didn't bother trying to bring up the subject any further; Genkai probably already knew what she was thinking—damn all these physics! Her hand balled into a fist at her side and she clenched her eyes shut; desperately she tried to keep her anger within her.

Genkai folded her arms over her chest, "Don't tell me you're going to stay in here for the rest of the tournament…" she said—it was almost as if she was taunting her, "Weren't you the one who told me that you couldn't just sit back and watch Yusuke suffer? I suggest, then, that you get over your own self-pity—dammit, you're stronger than this, Mai, and you know it as well as I do."

The girl blinked and glanced up quickly at the older woman. She held her gaze for awhile longer, but said nothing.

After a moment, Genkai sighed heavily and Mai noticed the woman's fist clenching subtly at her side, "Whether you like it or not, Yusuke will have to face his final test…And as long as you stay here—wallowing in your own despair—you can't do anything to help him. If these damn emotions are too much for you to handle—if they're able to tear you apart this easily—then, dammit, you probably don't deserve to be his guardian!"

Mai suddenly went numb at the words. Her arms hung loose at her sides and her eyes stared off blankly at the floor in front of her.

Did…

…Did she really mean that…?

Was she so pitiful that she didn't even deserve to protect Yusuke?

Tears unexpectedly began to well up in her eyes. A single teardrop silently ran along the side of her cheek and paused at the tip of her chin before plummeting to the ground. Her fist clenched at her side and her nails dug into her palm painfully.

_Why couldn't I see it…? Was I so weak that I allowed my own selfishness to blind me?_

Slowly, she sunk to her knees and covered her mouth in near-horror. Her mind raced frantically through everything that had happened the day before. How could she have acted like that? How could she have let herself get so caught up in own stupid feelings? She mentally kicked herself and was screaming inside of her head

"How…How could I…Gods, what the hell is wrong with me?"

Along her shoulder, Hywein mewed softly into her ear and rubbed up against her neck. Genkai watched her silently—the woman's stern expression considerably lessened.

"Am I really that pitiful?" she asked in a whisper and glanced up at the older woman, "Gods…I don't know why I was chosen to be Yusuke's guardian anyway…I'm so weak…"

"You're not weak Mai," the woman cut her off, "You know better than anyone your strengths and weaknesses—what you need to do is learn how to control yourself," she paused, studying the girl, "And you're sure as hell not going to learn how to do that if you let yourself sit around here."

The guardian was silent for the longest time, her hands fell open out on her lap and she stared at them absently, "Yeah…"

Genkai glanced briefly out the window, "The next fight has already started," she stated, "Lest we make any of your team members suspicious, we might as well meet them at the arena—"

"Master Genkai…"

She paused a moment and turned to face the girl, acknowledging her but not answering.

Mai slowly lifted her head—and there was a weak smile planted along her face even as her remaining tears trickled down her face.

"…Thank you…"

-:-

"Damn, is the match already over? That's not a good sign…" Yusuke commented as he and Kuwabara showed up late. Kurama and Hiei were already standing along the balcony as they approached them. The detective leaned against the railing and stared down into the ring absently, "Those are the bastards we have to fight next, I'm guessing…"

Kurama nodded, "Team Uraotogi, I believe is what they called themselves…" he answered and sighed darkly, "They finished the fight in less than two minutes," he added worriedly, but then shook his head and turned back to the detective, "Have any of your wounds fully healed?"

He shrugged, "A few…" he answered simply.

"Hey, you guys should really see Yukina about those," Kuwabara put quickly, "She does a really good job—hey, but after the tournament, I'm going to help her find that brother of hers!"

Almost instantly, Urameshi and Kurama snorted as they tried to conceal their fits of laughter.

"Y-You know Hiei…" the redhead started to say through his laughter, "We should really help, don't you think?"

The apparition's eye began to tick dangerously, "Fox…" he growled while Kuwabara glanced between the trio in confusion.

Yusuke opened his mouth to add on to the joke, but he suddenly felt someone watching him. Turning around, he noticed the masked fighter standing calmly beside him near the railing. He blinked in surprise; when the hell did they get there? He shook the thought off after a moment, when he noticed their eyes flicker briefly behind him. The detective followed their gaze to find Mai leaning quietly against the wall of the arena.

He remained confused for a moment. _Wow, she must really have some skill if she was able to get her out of that room…_

"…Hey Mai…"

The other three boys turned when they heard Urameshi acknowledging the guardian. She looked up at all of them and managed a small smile as Hywein poked her head out between Mai's legs. From Yusuke's shoulder, Puu cocked his head and—without missing a beat—he flapped down towards the ground and waddled over towards the other spirit beast. The cat-like creature mewed happily and trotted out to meet it.

The guardian's cheeks seemed to flush at the attention she was getting and fiddled nervously with a strand of hair hanging over her shoulders.

"Hey Mai!" Kazuma greeted enthusiastically, "Are you feeling any better?"

She smiled again and laughed softly, "Yeah, I'm feeling better, Kuwabara…I just needed to rest for a little bit…" her grin brightened a little bit as she teasingly hit the side of her head, "I'm feeling a lot better…"

Yusuke looked as though he was about to say something to her, but he was suddenly cut off as a wave of whispers swept through the crowd of demons. The Urameshi team quickly turned back towards the arena, only to stop and stare at the team standing opposite of them.

It was as if the entire stadium went quiet and glanced between both teams unsurely.

Across from them, Toguro and his team members stood watching them. Instinctively, it seemed as though Yusuke stepped in front of his view of Mai—after what he had done, he didn't even deserve to look at her. His fists clenched at his side and he felt the same tension sweeping through his own companions. Damn that bastard to hell for what he had done—

His thoughts were suddenly cut off when he caught sight of Toguro pointing at him from across the arena. The demon's finger stayed for only a moment before he pointed back at himself. A smirk crossed over his face when he saw the fear flash across Urameshi's eyes.

But the detective soon recovered and he gritted his teeth furiously. He took his thumb and dragged it across his neck threateningly gesturing that he was looking forward to their fight.

-:-

Kuwabara frowned as he stared down at his hands, "…Do you really think we can beat them?" he asked quietly. The rest of his team glanced up at him briefly before returning to their vacant stares, "I mean…"

"We all know what you mean, Kazuma," the guardian next to him said as she stared at the floor in front of her. Her voice became hardly more than a whisper as she continued, "Hell…we're all thinking it now…"

From across the locker room, Yusuke let out a short laugh—although they could all tell that he was just as nervous as the rest of them, "What are you guys moaning about over there? Lighten up, why don't you?"

Mai found herself looking up from the floor and at the detective. She seemed to stare at him for the longest time—but when she realized what she was doing, she quickly shook her head. But then she caught sight of Kurama leaning against the wall nearby. Immediately, she clutched her head with her hand—dammit…those feelings were coming back to her—gods they just wouldn't leave her alone! She couldn't take it anymore…

Without saying a word, she quickly stood and made her way towards the door. Hywein was soon jogging after her. Before she could make her way through the entryway, she suddenly found herself crashing into someone already standing there. She stumbled backwards, but before she could completely fall over, a strong hand quickly grasped onto her arm. Behind her, the scraping of chairs signaled the rising of her companions.

Blinking, the guardian looked up at the man who had caught her.

Hardly standing taller than herself, a demon with light blue hair and traditional fighters clothing gripped her by the arm. A sword hung at his waist and the cut of his hair made it appear he was some type of insect with antennae. Four others stood around him; two towering over all the rest, but they also had more physique. The others were an elderly man and a child with a fishing pole.

"Well, well…look what I've found," he said coolly; his voice oozing with self-righteousness.

She glowered furiously—she was _definitely_ not in the mood for this. Ticked, she promptly flicked him her middle finger as she ripped her arm away.

The corner of his mouth curled into a smirk, "Team Urameshi, I presume…But why you're already thinking about the final round is beyond me—because you'll have to go through us to get there," he calmly folded his arms over his chest, "But how rude of me not to introduce myself and my teammates: I'm Shishiwakamaru."

One of the taller fighters stepped forward, "Kuro Momotaro."

"Makintaro," the second announced.

The child stepped forward, "Uraurishima."

He was soon followed by the older man, "Onji," he told them with a curt nod.

Shishiwakamaru smirked again and directed his attention to the detective standing nearby, "Don't forget to give us a good fight—we are planning to get famous by the way," he sneered—and without warning, horns suddenly protruded from his skull and fangs grew from his teeth, "Just you wait, Urameshi. We'll get ugly soon enough!"

Only Mai and Kuwabara jumped at his sudden transformation, but the demon smirked once more before he and his team left the room.

"No kidding…" the redhead mumbled under his breath.

"Bastards…" Yusuke muttered, "Who says we're going to lose to them anyway?"

The masked fighter narrowed their eyes at him, "I wouldn't underestimate your opponents…" she warned, "You're just as nervous as the rest of your team—that pride you use to hide that is only for the weak."

Urameshi's eyes flashed dangerously, "Are you trying to imply something?" he demanded.

"Only that if you were to fight Toguro right now with that pride of yours, you'd die in a matter of seconds," she responded coldly.

The detective gritted his teeth furiously—and then without warning, he suddenly threw his fist into the nearby wall just as Botan was returning from the vending machine. She jumped in surprise and nearly dropped all of the cans she had been carrying.

But the masked fighter watched Yusuke sternly before she continued, "If the leader of Team Toguro is Toguro then the leader of team Urameshi is you…Do you really think that you have what it takes to fight Toguro by yourself?"

Mai found herself glancing between the two uncertainly. Gods, if Genkai pissed off Yusuke too much, they'd have a major fight on their hands—

"Do you think you can lead this team better?" he nearly shouted in his fury.

She glanced up at him calmly, "If it has to come to that, then yes," she then noticed his fists clenching dangerously at his side, "If you're planning on destroying anything else, let's take it outside…"

He narrowed his eyes, "Gladly," he muttered.

The pair quickly made their way through the doorway and down the hall without so much as another word to their teammates. The room was quiet for the longest time and Mai found herself sitting there stunned.

Kurama sighed from behind her, "We might as well let them fight it out themselves—" he started to say. But he stopped when he caught sight of Mai quickly racing out the door after them. The rest of the team was again left in silence as her hurried footsteps faded away.

Gods, she had a bad feeling…whatever Genkai was planning, she had a bad feeling about it…

-:-

"Where the hell are we going?" Yusuke demanded as they made their way through the trees. He irritably pulled back a branch out of his way as the masked fighter walked ahead of him.

At first, they didn't answer him, "I'm not going to fight you…" she said calmly, "Just follow me."

-:-

Toguro glanced up when he heard hurried footsteps ahead of him. He noticed almost instantly the crimson-haired guardian racing down the opposite hallway; a look of worry etched across her face. The demon's senses piqued suddenly and he glanced in the direction she was heading…

It was almost as if energy was beginning to gather there in anticipation…as if it knew what was going to happen…

A smirk curled around his jaw as he leaned up casually against the wall next to him.

…Finally Urameshi would be a worthy opponent…

-:-

The detective glanced around the clearing unsurely, "So what do you want?" he asked as he placed his hands in his pockets, "Don't tell me you just wanted to drag me out here to talk…"

The masked fighter said nothing, but her golden-brown eyes watched him carefully. After a long while, her eyes quickly flickered behind Yusuke. He turned as well, his curiosity getting the better of him. Through the trees, he was able to make out Mai hurrying towards them, and as she came to the clearing she had to lean up against a tree for a moment to catch her breath.

She said nothing either, but her eyes quickly glanced between both of the fighters in front of her. For the briefest instant, Yusuke could have sworn that he saw fear pass over her face, but as quickly as it had come it was soon gone.

A heavy silence filled out between the trio. Soon however, the masked fighter turned her back to the two teens. Mai stared—almost in horror—as she started to unravel the mask around her head. Both Urameshi and the guardian noticed her curly pink hair fall out along her shoulders as the cloth fell away.

Yusuke nearly staggered backwards, "G-Grandma?"

"Master Genkai…?" the only reason Mai appeared surprised was only because she hadn't expected the old woman to reveal herself at all during the tournament, "You could have just told him before, couldn't you?"

"And take the chance of letting him open that big mouth?" she asked with a quirked eyebrow.

It took the detective a moment to make a connection, "Don't tell me you knew about this from the beginning?"

The guardian blinked, "Eh? Oh…um, well it was actually by accident that I found out…" she admitted and scratched the back of her head nervously, "She asked me not to tell anyone."

Urameshi blinked as well and glanced back at Genkai, "So…what happened with the younger chick from earlier?" he asked. Mai nearly choked and turned to the older woman to hear her answer.

There was almost a smirk along her face, "You're looking at her," she answered simply.

"You?" he repeated and nearly started laughing, "You got to be kidding me!"

Genkai shook her head and rolled her eyes. In the same motion, she caught sight of a boulder nearby. Pointing to it, she turned her attention back at the detective, "Fire your spirit gun at that," she ordered.

He blinked again and uncertainly placed himself in position, "Fine…"

It didn't take long at all for the detective to charge up his spirit gun. In an instant the boulder was obliterated and fragments of rock began to pelt the ground. Yusuke straightened smugly and turned back to the older woman—only to find her snorting in dry amusement.

"What? You wanted me to blow up the damn rock and I did! Did you want me to put on a little magic show along with it?" he asked irritably, "Show me how it's done then if you're not happy!"

She snorted, but didn't answer him. Without saying a word, the elderly woman walked past Mai and Urameshi until she was standing directly in front of a rock-face many times larger than the one the detective had blown up earlier.

Yusuke folded his arms over his chest, "Yeah, like she'll be able to blow _that_ thing up—"

"You were brought to this tournament for one reason," Genkai suddenly cut him off, "Toguro knows what you're capable of…and it's time you learn what that is as well…"

In just another moment, the older woman raised her hands in front of her. The tip of her index finger began to give off a blazing light. Tendrils of the glow whipped around her as the guardian and Yusuke stared at her in awe. And as the energy around her began to grow, the lines along her face smoothed out and her hair became a deep pink.

She suddenly let out a cry and a blast erupted from the ends of her hands. It ripped the boulder apart in only seconds—and the power it contained even caused it to charge past that and through the trees beyond. A crater appeared from the path it created and fizzled as smoke rose into the air.

"What…the hell…?" Mai breathed in astonishment as Genkai turned back towards them.

There were droplets of sweat forming along her brow, but she had managed a weak grin in return. The image of the younger Genkai was gone, and she had returned to her elderly form.

"When you're able to channel the spirit power to its maximum, the body cells take on the form you were most powerful in," her gaze locked firmly on Yusuke, "For me that was when I was in my twenties…for you it's now."

Mai suddenly knew what the woman was getting at, even before the words escaped her mouth. She felt her body go numb—all except for the subtle trembling of her hands.

Genkai sighed heavily, "You can have this power, Yusuke…but only if you are able to face the darkest shadows of your soul. I'm old and I no longer have use for any of it…you see, as your mind grows in wisdom, your strength slowly fades away," they noticed her features darken grimly, "I can't defeat Toguro—technically I never could—but I never had a purpose for these abilities. As long as I'm able to pass them on, I won't have any regrets…" her eyes continued to hold Urameshi's, "But it's up to you to decide if you're willing to receive these powers."

A silence quickly filled the void between the three of them. Storm clouds quietly began to gather overhead as the silence continued to envelope them. Yusuke watched the older woman as if hoping for some sort of clue that would help him see where her thoughts were coming from. After the longest time, his eyes slowly found their way to the guardian standing next to him.

But before she could notice, he quickly turned his attention back towards Genkai, "I'm ready…" he answered quietly.

The woman didn't even flinch, and remained almost emotionless as she continued:

"Then you'll have to kill me."

Both the detective and the guardian stared at her in pure and utter shock.

"Master Genkai you can't mean that—!" Mai started to say.

"Back down, Mai!" the woman nearly shouted at her. The guardian's eyes went wide at her tone of voice and she was quickly silenced, "I told you once that you are not to interfere—don't test my patience with you!"

The girl stood, stunned. She couldn't possibly mean that, could she? She couldn't just ask Yusuke to kill her! It wasn't right—dammit it just wasn't right for her to ask that!

Urameshi, however, remained frozen in a stunned silence. The older woman heaved another sigh as she turned back to face him. Her stern, golden-brown eyes never left him.

When it seemed as if no one would say another word, Genkai turned her back to them and slowly started for the cover of trees.

"There's a cave near the edge of this island…go there when you have an answer for me…"

With that, she merely disappeared within the shadows of the trees, leaving both teens still standing in their frozen shock. Mai felt a raindrop tap her on the shoulder while she stared off vacantly at the ground in front of her. Soon, however, raindrops could be heard everywhere around them as the heavens released their tears.

-:-

_The guardian glanced up suddenly from the pot in front of her. She frowned briefly as she wiped her hands on her apron. Peeking out from the kitchen, she stared out into the open veranda where the rain was quietly falling and drizzling down from the roof above._

_That was weird…she could have sworn she heard voices coming from the temple…_

_Curiosity overcame her interests as she pulled the apron over her head. She slipped on her sandals and grabbed the umbrella sitting near the doorway before she made her way out onto the porch. Mai followed the sound of the voices through the pouring rain. _

_Her sandals sunk deep into the mud along the path towards the temple. As she neared its entryway, she carefully made sure that her footfalls were slow and quiet so not to alert anyone nearby. With the umbrella resting on her shoulder, she peered cautiously through the doorway._

"_I'm asking you again: what the hell are you doing here?" Genkai said irritably._

_Mai was able to make out three figures amidst the gloom; two of them, however, she didn't recognize. One of the pair was huge and hunched over due to the height of the ceiling. Their partner was much shorter and appeared to have the physique of a woman—but it was hard to make out because of the cloak they wore._

"_There's going to be another Dark Tournament—"_

_Genkai glare was almost deadly, "…and if I recall, my wish from last time was never to be bothered by you bastards again," she cut them off coldly._

_The woman stepped forward after a pause, "I believe one of your pupils is attending…isn't that right? However, without a stronger fighter to support him and his team, it's likely that they won't survive the tournament…"_

_The guardian noticed Genkai hesitate at these words, but didn't reply. The strangers glanced briefly at one another before the giant spoke for them:_

"_It's up to you whether or not you come back to the tournament…" was all he said. The pair looked at each other a second time before they turned and headed for the doorway. Mai quickly backed away and pressed her back against the wall while the strangers departed from the temple._

_When they had disappeared through the trees, the guardian slowly glanced back into the doorway. She almost knew that Genkai sensed her there, but the older woman didn't acknowledge it._

_Mai let the umbrella hang down in front of her, "Are…are you really going to fight with us, Master Genkai?" she asked quietly._

_The elder woman stared at her for a long time. For a moment, the guardian almost thought that she wouldn't reply._

_But then Genkai forced a small smile along her aging face, "I can't necessarily have you and Yusuke running around on your own, now can I?"_

-:-

Both Yusuke and Mai were soon soaked to the bone as thunder rolled dimly in the distance.

"_Then you'll have to kill me."_

Gods, she couldn't mean that…there had to be some other way, dammit! She couldn't just tell him he had to kill her! It wasn't right!

"She's…she's done so much for me…"

Mai glanced up at the detective through the pouring rain. It might have just been her, but his shoulders seemed to weigh down around him…It made her sad to see him like that; he seemed so helpless—dammit he shouldn't have to decide to kill Genkai! He didn't deserve that burden!

"Yusuke…"

She noticed his fists clenching at his sides, "Dammit…Mai, we would have never gotten this far without her…" Urameshi turned slowly so that he was able to face the guardian. She could almost see tears filling his eyes, but there was a hint of determination deep within them, "…but I have to be able to beat Toguro…"

A wet strand of hair fell over her eyes as tears began to fill her own eyes. Was this the final test Yusuke had to go through? Did he have to kill his own teacher to become powerful enough to defeat Toguro?

"_You are not to interfere…"_

But she couldn't help him—she was useless to him now! There wasn't anything she could do to sway his decision; she could only stand back and watch…

…The one thing she had promised herself she would never do…

-:-

"That's weird…" Botan mused as she glanced up from the cards in her hands, "Hywein and Puu haven't left that window all afternoon."

The rest of the teens in the room looked up as well. Both spirit beasts seemed almost plastered to the window and they remained unmoving (all save for Hywein's gently swishing tail).

"Where are those guys anyway?" Keiko asked worriedly, "You said they ran off earlier, right?"

Kurama absently shuffled the cards in his hands, "Both of them are probably still out with the masked fighter…" he said quietly.

"In this weather?" Botan stared out the window a second time, "They'll get sick if they stay out there any longer—and that's the last thing we need in this tournament…"

-:-

Mai looked up suddenly—only to find Yusuke silently walking in the direction where Genkai had left earlier. She stared after him worriedly as he disappeared into the shadows…

…Had he made his decision…?

-:-

The detective stood outside the cave hesitantly. His eyes stared into the never-ending darkness before him as the rain continued to pour down around him. For a moment, all he could do was stand there…staring, but after a long while he glanced briefly over his shoulder.

"…Wish me luck, Mai…" he said quietly just as his legs began to drag him forward.

He didn't have to go far before he found Genkai waiting for him. As Yusuke approached, she said nothing, but merely watched him and the features along his face.

"Well? If you're going to do it, you better get it over with," she told him bluntly.

Urameshi's eyes never left the older woman, at least up to the point where he hung his head, "You're my teacher…I can't kill you—if it's necessary to gain the power to defeat Toguro, I don't care, I give up…" he told her quietly, "I won't take out anyone who's taught me anything useful; I'd rather take my chances of fighting the final round with my team."

By the way Genkai stared at him; it was almost as if she was angry at him, "Good. You answered correctly…"

Yusuke blinked, "What?"

The older woman smirked, "You qualify for the test; I needed someone who wouldn't kill his teacher, but also someone who wouldn't disregard the idea right way…so you pass."

The detective glowered, "You mean I made that damn touchy-feely speech for nothing?" he demanded—but even so, he seemed to blush a little bit.

"Don't worry," Genkai continued as her grin widened, "You'll remember everything that went through that thick skull of yours…" she gestured for him to follow her deeper into the cave, "Come on…"

He followed her silently into the depths of the cavern. After awhile, the tunnel opened up to a small room—probably at the center of the cave.

Genkai turned back to him; her gaze stern once again, "I'm giving you one last chance to back down—are you ready to endure the hardship you'll have to go through?" she inquired seriously. She waited as Urameshi paused, but after a moment or two he nodded, "Fine then."

-:-

A sudden tremor shuddered through the guardian as a chill raced down her spine…but it wasn't from the cold. Mai wrapped her arms around her abdomen protectively as she squinted through the pouring rain towards the direction where Yusuke had gone.

No, it wasn't from the cold; it was someone's energy…it was so powerful though—it couldn't have been Yusuke's…

…Did that mean…?

-:-

The detective watched incredulously at the area between Genkai's hands. There, an orb of pale blue light pulsed with her energy—even from where he stood, he could almost feel the power coursing through him. The cavern around them began to fill with the blue glow and cast eerie shadows around them as the sphere of energy continued to grow.

Light radiating from it sent pulsars through the cave and the orb soon became large enough to fit between the old woman's hands.

Genkai stared at him through the glow, "You shouldn't be ready for this at this point; it normally would take another ten years of training. You have to incorporate the spirit wave orb into your body and hope it doesn't tear you apart," he gaze hardened, "The pain could go on for hours or even days—and if you give in to the pain, you will be eaten from the inside out."

There was a pause before she added a final comment:

"…Mai has already gone through similar hardships, and now it's your turn."

Yusuke blinked in surprise _Mai?_ His mind flashed back to her fight with Touya, and even after that when she was acting so strangely. Had she really gone through so much pain already? The detective mentally cursed himself; he had been a real jerk to her—why couldn't he have sensed it before?

He furrowed his brow suddenly and his fists clenched at his side. Then…then if she had been able to deal with the pain, he could sure as hell do the same!

Without giving Genkai a chance to react, he suddenly ripped the orb away from her. He forced it furiously into body and watched as it sank beneath his flesh.

The detective blinked in surprise and let out a small laugh, "Is that it? Heh, I thought that by the way you were talking it—"

Urameshi froze suddenly and his eyes bulged. His vision blurred and his arms wrapped around his stomach. The detective's body trembled violently and he gagged as a trickle of blood slowly began to form along the corner of his mouth.

He dropped to his knees and desperately hugged his abdomen. From the pores along his body, tiny streams of blood started to trickle down his flesh and he clenched his eyes shut to try and block out the pain.

But it didn't seem to help as a blood-curdling scream rang through the cavern walls.

-:-

Without warning, a sudden pain raced through Mai's chest. Quickly the guardian's hand clutched the fabric of her shirt and winced.

"…What the hell…?"

She suddenly let out a cry of pain and fell to her knees. Mud quickly swirled around her legs, but she didn't notice—let alone care. The guardian breathed heavily as she stared wide-eyed at the ground in front of her.

What the hell was going on? What…what was this?

The guardian groaned and her heartbeat quickened—this wasn't her pain…gods, this wasn't her pain she was feeling…

Tears filled her eyes and streamed down her face, partially because of the pain she was trying to fight…and because she knew what was going on…

And that she couldn't interfere with it.

Her hands clenched weakly at the mud between her fingers as beads of sweat formed along her brow.

"…Yusuke…"

-:-

"Welcome demons and apparitions to the semifinals of the Dark Tournament!" the cheerful, blue-haired girl announced through the microphone in the new stadium. What seemed like fins protruded from the sides of her head and beneath the bright pink bandana she wore, "The final four teams are as follows: Team Gorenja, Team Toguro, Team Urameshi and Team Uraotogi!"

Cheers erupted from the stands almost immediately, and just above the sidelines Koto sat with another microphone watching (and looking slightly peeved).

But she put on her cheeriness nonetheless, "Well everyone, you're probably all wondering why I'm broadcasting outside the ring—but that's just for me to know and you to never find out! But enough of me talking, let's get on to the fight—right Juri?"

The blue-haired demon nodded curtly, "Right you are, Koto! And now for the first match of the semifinals: Team Uraotogi vs. Team Urameshi!" she shouted excitedly as doors on either end of the arena creaked open.

Both teams (or at least part of the Urameshi team) appeared beneath the doorway and were greeted by the cheers and snarls issued from the demons around them.

"Let's get one thing straight…" Hiei muttered as the trio made their way to the ring, "Since Urameshi and the onna aren't here, I fight first, last, and only—got it?"

Before either of them could respond to this comment, their opponents had met them at the center of the ring. No one from either team said anything; their stares spoke for it all. The tension that filled between them was thick enough to even reach out and touch.

Across from them, Shishiwakamaru smirked and fished casually for something in his pocket. In only a moment, he had retrieved a pair of dice and he held them between his fingers.

"May I suggest we use these for this match?" he inquired casually—even though there was nothing casual about it, "Each dice has the name of each team member from both teams; we roll and see who fights who…fair, right?"

Hiei snorted, "Doesn't matter to me," he told him darkly.

The demon smirked again and clenched the dice in his fist. With the flick of his wrist, they clattered across the arena floor until they rolled to a stop.

Juri glanced quickly down at the dice before she raised the microphone to her lips, "Alright then! It looks as though the first fight is between Makintaro from team Uraotogi and Hiei from team Urameshi!"

As the rest of their teammates left, the apparition was left to confront the monstrosity of a demon. He might have been better suited for wrestling rather than fighting—but that didn't quite matter at the current time and place.

Both fighters squared off as Juri stepped between them briefly.

"And let the match—BEGIN!"

Immediately, Hiei drew his katana and held it out before him. But before either opponent had even moved, there was a soft dripping noise coming from behind the apparition where a dark pool of blood started to form.

Kuwabara blinked in surprise, "What the hell? The match has hardly started and shorty's already bleeding?"

The redhead standing beside him frowned, "Look again, Kuwabara…"

Makintaro smirked, "What's wrong? Did you already hurt yourself—?"

He was cut off suddenly, when Hiei withdrew the demon's severed arm from behind his back. Makintaro paled and stared frantically down at his arm—which only remained as a bleeding stump. He cried out in shock and the apparition across from him snorted as he tossed the arm calmly out of the arena. Hiei turned his back on his opponent and casually made his way towards the edge of the ring.

But as he was leaving, Makintaro smirked and raised his bloody arm in front of him. His skin appeared to bubble as his hand regenerated itself—

Only this time it was in the form of an axe.

The demon let out an angry battle cry as he charged towards Hiei's departing form. Hearing him, the apparition turned quickly—and for the briefest moment a flash of fear crossed over his face.

Makintaro suddenly let his axe drop directly on top of Hiei's body and cheers roared through the stadium.

They soon died down, however, when they all realized that he was no longer there.

All eyes quickly shot towards the top of Makintaro's head where the apparition crouched dangerously. His katana was poised directly on top of the demon's head—and without waiting for his opponent to find him, the blade promptly sank through his skull.

He let out a gurgling cry as his body crashed to the ground. With a look of disgust, Hiei withdrew his sword from Makintaro's bleeding head and let it slide back into its sheath.

Hiei turned then towards the Uraotogi team and pointed warningly at Shishiwakamaru.

"The next time you roll, I have a feeling that I'll be fighting one of you bastards again," he growled.

-:-

The detective rolled along the cavern floor as agony swept through his body. His screams of pain echoed eerily through the tunnel wall and into the storm waiting beyond. His pores continued to release trickles of blood that ran along his arms and neck.

Yusuke gritted his teeth furiously as he tried to force himself onto his knees. But even through his clinched teeth, blood continued to seep through his mouth. His fists clenched and he furiously began to punch the earth beneath him. Rubble sank deep into his knuckles, creating more wounds for him to bear through.

He screamed again and slammed his head into the earth. Genkai heard his breathing coming heavily through his groans of pain.

She sighed heavily, "If you give up now, Yusuke, you'll die…" she told him quietly.

-:-

Tears streamed furiously down the guardian's face as she clutched her chest. A mixture of sobs and cries of pain escaped her lips as she sat beneath the pouring rain. Mud sank between her fingers and seemed to hold her to the spot as it swirled around her knees and hands.

"_You are not to interfere…"_

How could she not interfere? How could she just sit around and wait as Yusuke battled on when she felt the same pain he was feeling?

But she had felt this pain before…she had gone through the same pain—but it had been easier for her! Yusuke didn't have to watch as she suffered; unlike now…

Only it was worse…only she was going through the same pain…the same agony.

She let head fall into knees as her tears streamed down her face. Her shoulders trembled and she let out another cry. Mai whimpered weakly while strands of her crimson hair fell like a veil in front of her face.

"…Please…" she whispered to the earth, "…Please don't give up, Yusuke—"

Suddenly, a horrible shock of pain ripped through her. The guardian tried desperately to fight back, but the agony kept building up within her—it just kept building... It wouldn't stop...She hugged her abdomen fearfully as he started to feel as though her veins—her blood—were on fire.

But when she couldn't hold it in any longer, she screamed into the storm

"YUSUKE!"

-:-

a/n: yeah…um…please don't hate me fangimation :nervous laugh:

Anyway! I think my mom, my sister and I were going to my grandparents' house tomorrow or something—so I decided to update as soon as I could!

Please enjoy and review! (Though I should know better than to update during spring break; no one ever reviews then, LoL)

Ciao!


	25. Stuck

DISCLAIMER: I don't own YYH and unfortunately never will—however Mai and all my original characters—as well as twists to the original plotline are also mine—

STAY AWAY!

a/n: okay, well I just have nothing to do (except for probably reading my book report book, but that can always wait, right?) anywhos…

This chapter may seem a bit repetitive, and so I apologize in advance (not to mention it will be a little short…)

Cookies to my reviewers!

Little Sakura 87: Haha, very good question…(it actually took me awhile to sort this out) but you'll find out in a couple chapters (hopefully—I'll try and clear that up as soon as I can…it will especially be confusing in this chapter :nervous laugh:)

Umeko Saito: You really think so? Hm, interesting…LoL, well I'm glad you liked! (I'm sorry your parents think vacations during spring break are sins, though, LoL)

Shadowkitsune7: AWWW! Thank you!

Sarah1281: LMAO! For some reason, I can totally see Genkai doing that…creepy…

WiteLighter-Death: Thanks…but actually I don't know what you mean…hm…

LOL, and for those who didn't catch Sarah1281's little "scenario" I'll just put it in here for fun:

Yusuke comes out of the cave bleeding heavily and in severe pain to see Genkai sitting in a tree...playing solitaire on her computer.  
"GRANDMA!"  
"Oh, uh, yeah...don't give up Yusuke..." she says, not looking up.  
"I'm in pain here and you're playing SOLITAIRE!"  
"Yes, I'm playing against Toguro."  
"How the hell does THAT work?"  
"Uh, hey guys, remember me?" Mai limps up to them, holding her bleeding stomach.  
"Yeah...you might want to use bleach on that..." Genkai says, resuming her game.  
"It's nice to know we have such a caring teacher..." Yusuke comments.

Haha, anyway—

On to the chapter!

_Thoughts/Flashback_

_With Every Drop of Blood_

:Stuck:

Mai's body shook violently as each shot of pain raced through her. Her tears mixed with raindrops streaming down her face and dropped from her chin. One hand nearly clawed at her stomach while the other clenched the mud between her fingers.

She heaved deeply while she tried to clinch her eyes past the pain.

"Please…Yusuke…don't give up on me…"

The guardian grimaced painfully and suddenly screamed as another wave of pain swept over her. She gasped for breath while her tears continued to stream furiously down her cheeks.

"…Please…please don't die…"

-:-

The detective writhed in agony along the cavern floor as his screams filled the air around him. Genkai watched silently a little ways away as he continued to suffer under the spirit orb.

He grunted painfully and heaved in a breath of air as he suddenly whirled around to face the stone wall. His hands gripped at it so ferociously that the rocks were starting to crack. Yusuke abruptly rammed his skull into the cavern wall, creating a crater around his head. He did it again and again until it was almost as if the wall was going to collapse.

But no matter what he did, the pain would not subside. Blood trickled down his arms and from the corner of his mouth. He gritted his teeth and desperately clutched the tiny rocks between his fingers, crushing them almost instantly.

The detective screamed again and gripped his head between his hands.

"_Please…Yusuke…don't give up on me…"_

Mai…

Why was he thinking about her now? (The pain he was trying to endure steadily began to increase for some reason—be he didn't seem to notice). Dammit, he had to get through this; he couldn't afford to give up.

Not when she was waiting for him.

His knuckles turned white as he clenched his fists furiously.

Without warning, however, the pain suddenly erupted through him; greater and more agonizing than before. It felt as though he was on fire; like his body was slowly ripping apart. And Yusuke screamed again.

-:-

Unexpectedly, Mai gasped and nearly fell forward (had her hand not caught her before then). She blinked in surprise and stared at the ground before her. Rain continued to fall around her with a quiet pitter-patter…only now; Mai's screams were not among them.

"…What…the hell…?" she breathed.

The pain within her was suddenly gone—as quickly as it had come, it was gone.

But something told her she was the lucky one.

Without giving any thought to it, the guardian was suddenly onto her feet. She staggered only for a moment, but then she found herself racing blindly through the pouring rain around her.

Tree branches whipped mercilessly at her face and legs, but her only thoughts were on the path she was running. Genkai had told her not to interfere, but this was something she couldn't ignore; this was something she couldn't let Yusuke do alone.

…_For once—gods for once let me protect you, Yusuke…Let me be your guardian just once!_

Without warning, her foot caught on a tree root and she fell sprawling forward into the mud. Mai winced as she slid across the ground. When she had resided from the shock, she began to pant heavily. And using a nearby tree as support, the guardian shakily rose to her feet. She leaned up against the trunk as her tears sprung forth once again.

But through the storm, Mai heard Urameshi's indistinguishable screams of pain. Her eyes widened and she stared after the sound.

…_Yusuke…_

"Don't…don't give up…" she whispered as she took a shaky step forward. Her legs trembled violently after having her energy zapped from her. The guardian placed a hand over her abdomen as she steadily made her way towards Yusuke's cries.

With each step, her foot sunk deep into the mud and she swayed precariously.

"You wouldn't give up on me…" she wheezed and blinked through the rain, "So…Yusuke…I won't give up on you…"

-:-

Shishiwakamaru quirked an eyebrow at the apparition in amusement, "You think so?" he challenged, "You think that you'll have the honor of fighting one of us a second time?"

"Hn, I'd hardly call that a fight—let alone an honor…" Hiei growled.

The Uraotogi leader smirked, "Well it's the luck of the dice, isn't it?"

With that, he flicked his wrist and the pair of dice clattered along the arena floor. Juri shuffled over towards them and glanced down at the kanji symbols on them.

"Well it looks like it's Kuro Momotaro from Uraotogi!" the blue-haired demon cheered, but then frowned briefly as she turned towards the opposite team, "Unfortunately, it looks as though Mai from team Urameshi isn't present—so the fight is up in the air, boys!"

But Hiei—who had not moved from the ring—refused to budge, "It's mine then," he told her monotonously.

Across from him, a blonde-haired demon stepped forward. He wore a white bandana around his head and spheres marked with spades along his belt.

Hiei fingered the hilt of his katana in anticipation, "This should be fun…"

-:-

Genkai sighed heavily as she watched the detective roll along the ground. His chest heaved dangerously as his eyes grew wide in his agony. Blood seeped from Urameshi's pores and at the corner of his mouth.

Almost with an air of disappointment, the older woman knelt next to the detective and rolled him onto his back.

"I'm sorry, Yusuke…you shouldn't have to go through this…you're still not ready," she sighed, "I should have known before that you were too young…"

She placed her hands over his chest, and slowly the spirit orb appeared above the detective's flesh. Genkai sighed again and lifted the orb into her hands.

"I'm sorry, Yusuke—"

"Yo, old hag!" he suddenly grunted and his hand gripped onto her wrist, "Give…that…back!"

"Don't be an ass!" she retorted angrily, "Dammit, there still might be time to put this off!" she held the orb firm in her hands; unwilling to give it up. But Urameshi suddenly wrenched it away from her.

"Give it back, you old bitch! I'm going to finish this whether you like it or not!" determination burned in his eyes as he pulled the orb towards him, "Screw it if I die against Toguro! But I'm not going down without taking that bastard with me!"

With that, he shoved the orb back into his body. He sat up on all fours; anticipating the next wave of agony that would sweep over him. In only an instant, the detective's body began to shudder and he gritted his jaw and groaned. Through his teeth, blood dribbled onto the cavern floor. It wasn't long at all before another one of his screams filled the air.

Genkai stared at him in a mix of wonderment and astonishment, before she hung her head and sighed. She rose to her feet and turned, only to stop in mid-step.

The guardian stood at the mouth of the tunnel. She was drenched to the bone and her hair fell in front of her face. But her eyes were unmistakably locked on Yusuke in sheer horror. Those violet-speckled eyes of hers were wide and seemed to brim with tears. Her body looked as though she was begin weighed down; her shoulders slumped and her knees were beginning to buckle.

Slowly, she shook her head and took a staggering step forward.

This was his final test then…

…He had to survive Genkai's spirit orb…

And if he failed…if he failed, he would leave her alone…she would be a guardian without anything to guard. He would leave her to face this world alone.

_What the hell were you thinking Yusuke…? What were you thinking when you did this?_

_Did you even think about what would happen if you failed?_

_Did you…did you think about the fact that you could die…?_

"You're…so selfish, Yusuke…" she whispered suddenly at his writhing form, "…How could you do this to me…? You knew there was the chance that you could die…" she paused and her eyes almost went blank, "…the chance that…that you would leave me alone—gods you're such an ass…"

The older woman noticed her hands ball up at her sides and the hurt shimmering in her eyes.

Mai gritted her teeth and hung her head as Yusuke screamed again; his voice echoing eerily through the cavern. He grunted as he smashed his head into the wall for the countless time in his attempt to rid himself of his agony.

A tear rolled down the guardian's cheek.

"YOU'RE SUCH AN ASS, URAMESHI!"

-:-

Kuro folded his arms over his chest, "So Onji…are you sure he can't use that dragon of his?" he asked the old man under his breath.

The corner of his mouth curved into a small smirk, "Don't worry…he's too weak to call the Dragon of the Darkness Flame."

He smirked as he fingered the hilt of a small dagger at his side, "Good," he muttered as he walked calmly towards the center of the ring. Hiei watched him coldly as the demon approached him.

Without stopping, Momotaro promptly kicked Makintaro's body out of the ring. His blood left a smeared trail along the arena and the sidelines where his body settled.

Juri quickly made her way to the center of the ring and raised her hand above her head, "It's settled then—let the match BEGIN!"

Almost immediately, Kuro whipped out the dagger from his belt. His eyes never left the apparition as he sliced the knife across his arm. Kuro winced as blood trickled over his skin and down his hand. His eyes stared down at the blood-stained metal. With another smirk, he calmly licked the blade.

Hiei cocked an eyebrow, "That wasn't very hygienic you know…"

Momotaro snorted as he sheathed his sword and grabbed one of the spheres along his belt, "Hell, it's worth it for what it'll do for me in the end…say hell to my first Steaming Sphere."

Kuro crushed the sphere with his fist and there was suddenly a hissing sound emitting from it. A trail of steam flowed out from the orb and the demon inhaled the smoke deeply. Hiei noticed the wound along his arm slowly begin to heal and close up—and also the face that he started to grow fur.

The apparition furrowed his brow, "Sorry, but the spot of babbling monkey has already been taken by the baka over there."

His opponent glowered as the steam began to subside—only to reveal the new ape-like demon in front of him, "This is my Beast Armor of the Ape."

"So that's it…" Kurama said quietly, "Those spheres contain the essences of animalistic qualities that Kuro Momotaro can change into."

Kuwabara on the other hand remained confused, "Wait, what the hell did he mean by 'the spot of babbling monkey has already been taken'?"

Hiei flicked the hilt of his sword with his thumb—and before anyone could follow his swift movements; he vanished and suddenly reappeared inches away from Kuro with his sword drawn. He instantly swiped at his opponent's arm, only to have the blade shatter on contact after a brief chock of electricity raced along its metal.

As the apparition landed back onto the tile flooring, he glanced—almost unhappily—at his broken katana then to the unscathed Kuro before him. Then he cast the hilt away and shrugged.

"Ah well…I'd prefer killing you with my own hands anyway…" he told him rather casually. But a glint suddenly flashed across his crimson eyes and he disappeared a second time…only now, Momotaro did the same; matching Hiei's movements.

Unfortunately, this caught him off guard—especially when he went in to punch Kuro in the stomach. His opponent caught his head between both his hands and suddenly whipped the apparition at the ground. Hiei collided with the edge of the ring, causing the concrete to crumble as he skidded across the sidelines and created a crater in his wake.

Kuro sauntered towards the edge of the ring and folded his arms over his chest smugly, "You should know…my body can remember the pain of my opponents; when I use the Steaming Spheres I become immune to those attacks…"

-:-

_Mai absently tapped the light bulb with her eraser as she stared lazily out the window where the sun was just beginning to set. Sighing, she dropped her pencil and scooted out of her seat and headed towards it. _

_As she sat along the sill, she noticed storm clouds beginning to gather on the horizon…damn, it was going to rain soon. Above all else, she hated the rain with a passion._

_She blinked after a pause; she just remembered that she needed fix that hole in the wall from the little "bathroom incident". Yusuke and Kuwabara—of course—hadn't shown up for almost a week, leaving her to clean up _**their**_ mess. Mai pouted briefly; dammit, those two could be so selfish sometimes…but at the same time, she didn't think they really meant to be._

_The guardian laughed inwardly. It was an odd sort of selfishness though: they were usually selfish for the sake of others._

_Which didn't make a lick of sense._

_A devious glint suddenly passed over her eyes; well the good news was that the next time she _**did **_see them, she'd have a perfect chance and or reason for beating the crap out of them—_

_Bang. Bang. Bang!_

_Mai blinked and after a moment frowned as well. She rose from the windowsill and made her way towards the door. She creaked it open and poked her head through into the hallway, glancing around uncertainly._

_Again, she blinked in surprise to find someone sitting in the hallway…working on the hole in the bathroom wall…_

"_What are you doing?"_

_Yusuke glanced up at her with a roll of scotch tape sticking out of his mouth, "Hm? Oh…" he took the tape out of his mouth, "Nothing."_

_The guardian crossed her arms and moved towards him, "I thought you and Kazuma had ditched out of this little project…"_

_He shrugged, "Well Kuwabara did…the wuss…" he muttered._

_Mai glanced at his handiwork for a moment as the detective tried to smooth out a strip of tape surrounding the hole, "You really suck at this," she informed him blandly and she noticed him scowl._

"_Yeah, well—would you like to do it then?" he grumbled._

"_No, I'm good," she told him simply as she sat against the opposite wall and stared at the rather crappy repairs done to the hole, "You missed a spot."_

"_I know," he replied as he started to work again, "I did that on purpose…"_

…

_Anyone could have heard the loud smack that followed._

_Mai turned her head away from him and glanced down the hall, "You're such an ass, Urameshi…" she mumbled._

_He unrolled a strip of tape and ripped it with his teeth, but didn't answer her. Mai scowled and jabbed him in the shoulder, "Hey! I just called you an ass! Urameshi—!"_

_She was suddenly cut off as the roll of tape smacked her in the face. The guardian blinked in surprise, but Yusuke hadn't appeared to look up from his work. After a moment, an artery began to pulse in her temple just as the detective turned with a sly grin._

"_Whoops, it slipped…" he told her innocently._

_For some reason, she couldn't get herself to reply (probably because she was so furious) and Yusuke busied himself again._

_There was a long pause that filled between them._

"_You know…" he started to say, "You're not the pick of the crop either…"_

_Her eye began to tick, "Excuse me?"_

_He turned and noticed how pissed she looked—but nonetheless he shrugged, "Well you're not…really…" he said simply and she caught a smile playing at his lips, "You can be a bit of an ass yourself sometimes."_

_Mai blinked again and watched as he plastered the strip of tape along one of the cracks in the wall. She stared at him in near-disbelief before she furrowed her brow. Scuttling across the hall, she turned him around by the shoulder and prodded him in the chest with a finger._

"_I may be an ass sometimes," she said, "But you're stuck with me."_

_The detective watched her for a moment before he noticed her gaze soften slightly. He then saw a smile curve along her lips._

"_So deal with it."_

_She plopped down against the wall as Yusuke began to smile as well. He shook his head as he pulled at another strip of tape. Once again, he busied himself with his project and another silence filled the void between them. Urameshi paused and rolled his shoulders casually._

"_Is that a promise?"_

_Mai blinked, "What?"_

_He set his tools on the ground and turned to face the guardian, "That you're stuck with me…is that a promise?"_

_The girl blinked again, wondering if he was joking, but he looked completely serious. Well, when she had said that, she had been partially kidding—while Yusuke looked like he really wanted to know._

_After a moment, she grinned and placed her hands behind her head, "Yup, and probably for life depending on how long you keep this tantei job…" _

_Urameshi paused briefly then he smiled wryly, "Well I guess I'm screwed then; this job is the one thing I've been good at and I'm not giving that up."_

_She smiled also and closed her eyes, "That's good to know," she told him. There was another silence that came between them—but only before Mai heard him shifting and she opened an eye to find him sitting next to her. Neither of them said anything for awhile as they both stared at the detective's handiwork._

"_I'm not really an ass, am I?" he asked._

_Mai sent him a curious glance, but then she laughed, "Sometimes," she admitted and paused, "But you really should know…your repairs suck."_

_Yusuke smirked and rolled his shoulders again, "Well…the good news is, Kuwabara's going to have to do a hell of a lot more if he wants to watch you shower," he cocked his head to find the guardian scowling. He laughed and folded his hands behind his head casually._

_She paused again and stared at the "repaired" hole._

_After a moment, she turned her head towards the detective, "Kazuma can still get through that, you know…"_

_He smirked without looking at her, "Would you like to help then?"_

_The guardian smiled and laughed as she leaned forwards a little bit, "Yup, besides…_

"_You're stuck with me, remember?"_

-:-

Mai clenched her eyes shut forcefully as the detective screamed again. Her nails dug into her palms and her tears trickled down the side of her face. His screams echoed against the cavern walls and almost seemed to cause the stone to tremble. The guardian heard him choke as he coughed blood up onto the floor beneath him.

She couldn't bear to watch him; she couldn't bear to watch him suffer and die!

_I…I want to help you, Yusuke…gods I want to help you so much…_

"_But you are not to interfere."_

What kind of crappy rule was that? If Yusuke died, there would be nothing for her to live for anymore—

It wouldn't be worth it to live if _he_ died!

"…don't give up on m e, Yusuke…" she whispered and hung her head, "…not you…don't you give up now…"

Her fists clenched painfully as a tear plummeted to the ground. Beside her, Genkai watched the guardian with an unreadable expression.

"DON'T DIE ON ME, YUSUKE!"

-:-

Keiko blinked suddenly, "Oh! I completely forgot about Puu and Hywein! I left them both in hotel room alone!"

The other girls waited patiently as the brunette hurried back down the hallway. She quickly made her way back to the room to find both spirit beasts in the same place they had left them earlier.

"There you guys are—!" Keiko cut herself off suddenly when she noticed an expression of worry across Puu's face and—what appeared to be—a look of sorrow along Hywein's, "Oh…" he voice softened and she stared out the window with them as the rain steadily began to die down.

She bit her lip worriedly, before she sighed and carefully gathered the two creatures in her arms. She watched them nervously and glanced through the window a final time.

"I hope those two are alright…" she quietly said aloud.

-:-

The apparition cursed darkly under his breath as he lifted himself back to his feet. There was a crater that had formed around him, and he stared at it distastefully.

_Shit…_

Above him on the ring, Kuro began to smirk in a taunting fashion. He folded his arms over his chest and stared down at Hiei, "Why don't you make this fight a bit more interesting…? Bring out the

Dragon of the Darkness Flame and let's see how exciting this match can get."

Hiei's eyes never left his opponent, he growled under his breath—only because this bastard was getting on his nerves. But without missing a beat, his hand quickly went to the bandana along his forehead. He tore it off, only to reveal the glowing Jagan from beneath.

His eyes narrowed dangerously, "Remember…you're the one who asked for it."

Without warning, a tremendous amount of energy enveloped the apparition in a steamy, purple haze. The demons in the stands—that had also started to cheer for Kuro—went silent almost immediately as Hiei's power almost sent a shiver through the stadium

From the sidelines, Kurama frowned; "Hiei's been severely drained after the last time he used the dragon…" he informed Kuwabara quietly, "He has to summon an extravagant amount of energy to lure the dragon—and now he's hardly even at half strength."

The mist surrounding him grew thicker and thicker until the apparition was hardly visible from beyond. But then he started to crouch low towards the ground while his fist began to emit blue sparks. In a flash, he launched himself at Momotaro and leapt into the air above his opponent. He struck out his fist and a blast of dark blue light shot itself directly into Kuro's face.

Hiei's opponent howled in pain as the apparition touched down onto the arena floor.

Kazuma frowned, "…Um…was that just me, or did his attack look nothing like a dragon?"

The redhead folded his arms, "No, Hiei didn't use the Dragon of the Darkness Flame at all…it's the flame of the human world; the Fist of the Mortal Flame."

"Hn," the apparition stared darkly at Kuro, "I had no need to waste the flame of the underworld on the likes of you…" he informed him.

But suddenly, Momotaro began to laugh. The smoke surrounding him cleared away to reveal the demon hadn't even been scratched by Hiei's attack.

"You idiot!" he chuckled darkly, "You just wasted an attack—especially now that my body has memorized it, there's no way it will be able to work on me!"

And without giving Hiei a chance to react, he whipped out a second sphere from his belt and crushed it in his fist. The steam wafted around him and he inhaled it immediately. There was a dull glow that radiated from the demon as—instead of fur—feathers began to protrude from his flesh and his skin became a scaly blue.

Hiei shifted his pose and growled under his breath. As Kuro's transformation concluded, the apparition gave him no time to prepare an attack, but instead charged directly at Momotaro. His opponent seemed to match his speed perfectly, and in no time he had caught up with him. Kuro threw a punch straight into Hiei's face and sent him staggering backwards.

He recovered quickly and again charged towards him a second time—only this time, his fists were both giving off a deep, gold glow.

"Double Fists of the Mortal Flame!" he shouted and instantaneously punched Momotaro in the chest.

Kuro gave off a hawk-like screech and stumbled backwards from Hiei's attack. The demon's abdomen was lined with scorch marks and his mouth was open in surprise. But then his body quivered and slowly, his wounds healed up and disappeared; gaining yet another immunity to the apparition's attacks.

He smirked and gave Hiei no warning when he kicked the apparition directly in the face. With his newfound speed, he was quickly able to turn around and punch him in the stomach then pick him up and slam him over his leg.

Hiei was sent drilling into the ground and he grunted in pain. Despite the fact that he couldn't seem to compete with his opponent, he was certainly unwilling to give up so easily.

From across the Urameshi team, Onji watched the fight with a twisted interest, "Hm…" He spoke aloud to any of his teammates, "…Kuro can win—that's for sure…but Hiei is still dangerous and a threat…"

The rest of the Uraotogi team took not of this, even though Kuro did not hear them. Instead, Momotaro randomly drew out a third sphere from his belt and held it aloft in his hand.

"I hope you enjoyed living so far…but I think this next armor will be the last one I'll have to use…" he growled as he suddenly crushed it between his fingers. The mist swirled around him and Kuro breathed it in anticipation; his body taking on a third transformation.

The audience watched as the feathers evaporated from his flesh and were replaced with hair that covered his entire body. Momotaro's ears stretched out from beneath his—now white—hair. Fangs as well as long claws appeared instead of teeth and along his hands.

And the instant that the transformation stopped, Kuro launched himself at his opponent with even more speed than before. Catching the apparition off guard, Hiei was just barely able to dodge the sharp claws that slashed at him. He leapt into the air just as Momotaro's attack came down and crashed into the arena floor.

As Hiei landed back onto the ring, he cursed under his breath when he noticed the claw marks along the front of his shirt. Kuro turned immediately when he realized that he had not actually hit his opponent and prepared for another run at the apparition.

He gritted his teeth and took a step backwards.

Kurama blinked in surprise, "…That's unlike him…" he said suddenly, catching Kuwabara off guard.

"What are you talking about?"

The redhead's eyes never left the apparition, "It has never been like him to back down from an opponent…actually, I've never seen him do it before…"

Hiei's foot suddenly knocked into the hilt of his sword and he glanced down at it briefly before his eyes flashed towards Kuro. He shrugged casually; it was worth a try, he decided. The apparition kicked the edge of the hilt, causing it to flip up into his hand.

He turned back to Momotaro, "Unless you want to die, I'm giving you a final chance to surrender," he quickly glanced down at the hilt in his hand, "Personally, I actually hate this attack; it's devoid of any taste or artistry…"

Kuwabara blinked, "Wow, there's even an attack that's too barbaric for shorty…" he commented aloud.

Kuro sneered, however and appeared as though he would never back down, "Who are you to threaten me?" he demanded, "There's no way that you can possibly win! I'm practically invincible!"

The apparition smirked, "You'd like to think that, wouldn't you?" he said too quietly for him to hear.

Momotaro suddenly launched himself at Hiei without giving the apparition time to react. In an instant, Kuro's speed had gotten him across the ring and suddenly he was towering over his opponent. He unexpectedly sunk his teeth into his shoulder, causing blood to spill over almost the entire arena.

Hiei's eyes went wide in surprise, but then a moment passed in a near complete silence until he began to chuckle darkly.

A pillar of energy was suddenly protruding from Kuro's back; the same energy that Hiei had used before to summon the Dragon of the Darkness Flame.

In another instant, the apparition flicked his wrist and the pole of energy sliced straight through his opponent. The rest of the audience realized that the energy was glowing from the hilt of Hiei's sword.

"So he did summon the dragon…" Kurama said quietly.

Kuwabara frowned though, glancing at Hiei uncertainly, "But I thought that he was too weak to do that; wouldn't he have died then?"

The redhead nodded slowly, "Yes—at least if he had controlled it using his actual body. Since Hiei used the hilt of his katana, the energy was separate from him and made the attack weaker, but because it was separate, it didn't kill him."

Kazuma eyed the apparition a moment longer before something occurred to him, "Hey! That attack of his was pretty damn close to my spirit sword—and _he_ said that his attack lacked taste an artistry! Were you implying something, Hiei?" he demanded, but his teammate didn't exactly answer.

Juri quickly made her way to the center of the ring and raised her hand above her head, "The winner of the second match, Hiei from team Urameshi!" she announced brightly.

Hiei, on the other hand was staring down at the hilt of his sword unhappily, _damn…_that attack sucked a whole lot of energy from him…he would actually need to time to recover it he was going to plan on fighting again.

-:-

"Nice shortcut there, Botan…" Shizuru informed her sarcastically.

The ferry-girl sweatdropped and scratched the back of her head as she glanced uncertainly around the forest, "Did I say it was a shortcut? Whoopsie…" she told them nervously.

Shizuru sighed and rubbed the bridge of her nose, "Well let's go back to the hotel and start from scratch…it seems like the only thing we can do now."

The other girls nodded. But as they turned to head back towards their starting point, Keiko glanced down at the two spirit beasts in her hands. Both of them looked terrible…

"I wonder what's happening to them…?" she said quietly.

"What was that, Keiko?" Yukina asked her as she turned around.

The brunette started and noticed the ice-apparition watching her. She managed a weak smile and shook her head, "Nothing, I was just talking to myself…"

-:-

Yusuke screamed louder this time, and it was almost as if pieces of rock from the ceiling above trickled onto the cavern floor. His cry of pain echoed through the cave's tunnels and even though the opening to the forest beyond.

His body writhed along the floor of the cave and he continued to smash his skull into any boulder or wall he could get his hands on.

Genkai hung her head and subtly clenched her fists at her side, "Dammit…he might not be able to live through this test if he keeps up like this…"

"…Shut up…"

The older woman blinked in surprise and turned to find Mai with her head hanging low and strands of hair covering her face. The guardian's knuckles were white, and she could have sworn that she saw trickles of blood seeping through her fingers.

"Shut up! He's not going to die!" she shouted, but her voice shook in fear, "He's stronger than that, dammit!"

Her arm almost shook as the older woman watched her.

"It was his choice, Mai," Genkai told her quietly, "I tried already to stop him, but he wanted to go through with his test…"

The old woman watched Yusuke without blinking, her gaze stern.

"Now it's up to him if he decides to live or not…"

-:-

a/n: …

Yes, the dialogue was crappy—but only because I don't remember shit about what Kuro Momotaro sounded/acted like…and probably because I was totally out of it the entire time I was writing this…

And don't ask me why I chose this title for the chapter...maybe it was because of the flashback, but I actually don't know for sure :nervous laugh:

Ah well…

Anyway! Let's hope it gets better by the next chapter, shall we? ESPECIALLY SINCE YOUKO'S COMING OUT! MWAHAHAHAHA!

LoL, anyway…I'm off to do my homework!

Ciao!


	26. A Legendary Bandit

DISCLAIMER: I don't own YYh (even though I'm totally psyched because I got the 'Born Anew' DVD and it's totally awesome!) but Mai and all my original characters are mine. (and I do not own DJSammy for the last few lines of this chapter)

a/n: …

PLEASE DON'T HATE ME! I've had a butt-load of homework and a bunch of projects due lately that I haven't had much time to work on this fic (don't ask me about the FMA fic—I take more pride in this story, so I takes me longer to right the chapters)

Anyway, it's actually quite refreshing to be working on this fic again, so I hope I can make Yoko as great as he was in the show…(even though Kurama may be a bit of a sap, but he kind of was during this episode now that I think about it…)

AND I AM SO TOTALLY PUMPED THAT I GOT THE 'BORN ANEW' DVD!

LoL, cookies to all my reviewers!

Umeko Saito: YES! Yoko is totally awesome! LoL—and thank you! T.T I'm so touched you love my story!

Little Sakura 87: LoL (does that mean I did well describing it? Hm, I guess it's kind of easier to describe those situations anyway…) I'm glad you enjoyed it!

Shadowkitsune7: T.T I'M SO LOVED! Thank you so much! I really and truly hope you keep reading!

Princess of Innocence: Aw jeeze that's sick…but funny. Haha, seriously, you should make a parody of this; I wouldn't mind (but like you said: where would you start?)

Daylight Dancer: Hehe, that would be pretty funny—but she does ask herself a lot of questions, doesn't she? I'll have to work on that…

Shadowkitsune7: (didn't you already review this chapter?) Anyway, thank you for liking my story!

Fangimation: um…heh-heh, no comment? (Besides—even though I took it off awhile ago—I think I warned everyone what the pairing was going to be…)

_Thoughts_

_Forever Fornever II_

:A Legendary Bandit:

A fierce aura swayed around Yusuke's body as he sat hunched over on all fours. Mai shivered from the power that emitted from him; how was he possibly able to hold so much energy? The guardian had long lost any feeling in her body—even though it continued to quiver against her will. Her eyes remained wide in horror and never left the detective, no matter how agonizing his test seemed.

Beside her, Genkai side grimly, "…At least we don't have to worry about him giving up; he's as stubborn as an ass, especially when it comes down to times like these…"

Mai didn't answer her; even though if she probably tried to, she wouldn't be able to respond anyway.

It suddenly occurred to her—and hit her almost with a painful force…

That Yusuke was dying…

-:-

Shishiwakamaru made his way to the center of the ring again and held the dice aloft in his palm. Across from him, the three members of the Urameshi team gritted their teeth in anticipation—all except for Kuwabara who was nearly biting off his fingernails hoping that the dice wouldn't land on his name. Kurama and Hiei, on the other hand, couldn't wait to get back into the ring.

The aqua-haired demon smirked and flicked his wrist, causing the tiny cubes to clatter dully against the marble tiles. They rolled to a halt and Juri was instantly beside them when they stopped.

She raised her microphone to her lips and shouted, "It's the luck of the dice once again! This match: Uraurishima from team Uraotogi and Kurama from team Urameshi!"

Kazuma's sigh of relief could almost be heard throughout the entire stadium while the other redhead tried to conceal his satisfaction. Hiei, however, was nearly fuming beside himself. But without saying a word to his teammates, Kurama promptly stepped into the ring as the child-like fighter appeared before him.

Onji smirked quietly to himself as he cocked his head up towards Shishi, "Quite an interesting turnout, don't you agree? Uraurishima seems to be the best match against Kurama…"

His team member smirked as well, "Yeah, and with any luck, Ura will be able to get rid of him for good."

Quickly, Juri approached the center of the ring and held her hand high above her head, "Fighters ready? Then let the next match begin!"

Uraurishima fingered the fishing pole resting along his shoulder, while Kurama quietly withdrew the rose whip from beneath his hair—without letting his eyes leave his opponent that is.

But as if reading one another's thoughts, both fighters suddenly lashed out at one another. Both whips cracked sharply against one another as each of them were able to block their opponent's attacks. Unfortunately, they both seemed evenly matched.

Hiei frowned—still not quite over his loss over this fight, "Kurama needs to start fighting for real if he wants to get out of this match alive," he muttered to Kuwabara, "That damn fox never creates a strategy until he fully understands his opponents."

The redhead lashed out harshly with his whip—when he suddenly felt something prickling at the back of his mind. He shook his head, as if to rid himself of the feeling, but it would not leave him.

'_Please, you have to help me.'_

His eyes widened when he realized that it was Uraurishima talking to him, but through his shock he nearly stopped fighting entirely.

'_Don't stop fighting!'_ he told him hastily, _'They'll get suspicious if we do! Please, you're probably the last one who'll be able to help me; I need you to kill me now.'_

He furrowed his brow, _'And why would you want me to do that?'_

Kurama heard him sigh, _'I needed money to help my grandmother—she was deathly sick. And Shishiwakamaru promised that he would give me money to help her if I fought…At least if you kill me I'll have done the right thing for once…'_

Both fighters began running parallel to one another at the same time—still whipping at each other.

'_Suicide is not the answer!'_ he tried to persuade him, _'There is neither honor nor redemption in that.'_

Ura's eyes seemed to widen in surprise, _'But it's the only way!'_ he insisted.

'_No. I'm not about to let anyone die needlessly; we can fake your death. I can sting you with my rose whip in a way that will merely knock you out.'_

It seemed as though Uraurishima was unsure about this option, but then he nodded in determination, _'Alright.'_ He agreed.

The redhead shifted his grip on the whip in his hands and abruptly changed his direction and instead headed straight towards his opponent. In the same motion, he was able to leap into the air and raise the vine above his head. He flicked his wrist and the whip lashed back out towards Ura—just slightly towards the side of his temple to create enough of a shock that would knock him out.

But as his whip began to crack as he sliced it downwards, he noticed with a start that Uraurishima was no longer in front of him—

How did he—?

Without warning, Kurama suddenly felt something binding his body. He gritted his teeth as the sharp twine twisted around his arms and torso. Above him, Ura had managed to leave over his head and was now landing behind him, tugging his fishing pole with him—and causing the line to constrict. The redhead cried out painfully as the twine pierced flesh and drove deeper into his skin.

Ura quickly withdrew the line as he landed behind him. There was a smug look of satisfaction etched across his face as he watched Kurama drop to his knees in pain. The child smirked and rested the fishing pole against his shoulder.

"You're a real sap, you know that?" he laughed openly in front of him, "And gullible too…who the hell would fall for something like that, besides you?" he put on a mocking reenactment, "'Oh, please help me! My grandmother's _so_ sick!'"

Kurama frowned darkly while his fists began to clench beneath him, "You lied to me…" he growled.

"The hell I did!" Ura answered, "And you know what else? While you were busy trying to figure out my motives, you were too dull to notice the nifty little force field I put up around this place!"

And even as he was talking, it suddenly became apparent to all of those who were watching that lines—of what appeared to be fishing line—stretched over and around the ring; trapping the fighters inside. But despite this, Kurama had no need to look away from his opponent; especially now that he had betrayed and lied to him.

Now, Uraurishima was fumbling with something within his cloak. After a moment, he withdrew a crimson-colored box and held it in his hands, "This was an interesting little trinket I picked up a little while…called the Idunn Box—perhaps you've heard of it? The smoke it contains with in has the power to convert the user's opponent into a younger age."

With a smirk, he tauntingly lifted the lid.

Almost at once, the ring was completely surrounded in the foggy mist. Kurama desperately tried to cover his mouth and hold his breath; however, the nauseating smoke became too much for him, and before he could even draw in the last remains of the air around him, it had seeped into his system. Almost immediately, he grew dizzy and began to stagger.

"Dammit, I can't see anything! What the hell's going on in there?" Kuwabara frantically wanted to know as he tried to see through the mist.

Beside him, Hiei's features darkened as he stared at the fog in front of him. His frowned deepened however, when he suddenly felt Kurama's energy disappear entirely…there wasn't even enough to make up the energy of a baby…

He found himself starting in shock when he suddenly realized something. His eyes widened as they penetrated through the mist—Kurama wasn't gone…

But another side of him was beginning to surface…

Ura smirked haughtily as he folded his arms over his chest; _heh, there's nothing left of that bastard now…_

Unexpectedly, his eyes grew wide when he suddenly felt a shiver race down his spine. Slowly an enormous amount of energy was beginning to surface before him—but through the smoke, he could see nothing. It was deliberate, as if awakening from a deep sleep.

He felt his body beginning to shake uncontrollably.

He recognized this power…

Uraurishima fervently shook his head, "No…no, he's supposed to be dead!" he shouted through the mist, "He died fifteen years ago! He can't be here—not now! Gods, not now!"

Before him, an omniscient shadow began to form and sparks of energy shot out from a point directly in front of him. Beads of sweat formed along his brow and his eyes grew even wider—if that was physically possible.

But from the area head of Ura, there was a deep, malevolent chuckle of amusement.

"There is no room for your fantasies of denial, little vermin. Be assured…I _am_ alive…"

Through the gloom, Uraurishima began to tremble at the sight before him. Amidst the smoke, a silver tail flicked quietly; stirring the mist around it while streams of silver hair cascaded along the back of the demon.

Hiei was able to smirk now as he folded his arms calmly over his chest, "So Yoko's risen from the dead…" he mused aloud.

Kuwabara blinked, "What? What are you mumbling about over there, shrimpy?" he demanded.

But instead of ignoring him (like he probably would have done on any normal basis), the apparition watched the ring in amusement.

"Kurama's finally returned to his full-demon form…_Yoko_ Kurama. Fifteen years ago, he was thought to have died when he carelessly fell into a trap—but in a desperate attempt, he fled to the living world and hid in what you have known as Kurama…" He casually flicked something off of his fingers, "He thought no one would find him there—unfortunately for him, _I_ did…" he turned his head slightly towards Kazuma, "Do you know why I have Kurama on my side? So I'd avoid having to fight him myself—especially if the soul of Yoko still resides in him…"

Ura was nearly crying in fear. He staggered backwards, as if hoping to get as far away from the kitsune as physically possible. But from in front of him, a pair of golden eyes narrowed towards the child-fighter and flashed with a dangerous glint.

The fox-demon growled softly under his breath as he withdrew something slowly from the folds of his cloak. He raised his hand, palm upwards, out before him to reveal a tiny seed. But as Yoko's fingers clenched slightly, the seed began to give off a pale blue glow and started to hover above his palm.

Steadily, tiny sprouts cracked from beneath the kernel's shell and began to wrap around the kitsune's hand and eventually down the rest of his arm.

"I'm flattered you've heard of me…" he told Ura slowly as the plant continued to spread out around him until it was nearly twice his size, "But as you can see…those stories were incorrect…"

One of the branches broke off into a giant bulb—but not a moment passed before the 'bulb' began to quiver…and open its mouth. Rows upon rows of white-fanged teeth lined the creature's mouth as it hissed threateningly towards Uraurishima. A putrid substance dripped from those teeth and dropped onto the arena floor—only to have it completely disintegrate a part of the ring.

Ura whimpered pathetically as he continued to try and move away from the kitsune.

Yoko glared at him as he held the plant aloft by his arm, "…The Death Tree contains a poison that can melt through lead; it eats away slowly at my opponent at an excruciating pace…" his golden eyes flickered, "It has also grown a taste for its victim's screams of pain…"

His opponent blanched to the color of a sheet as he continued to tremble violently. Ura suddenly dropped to the ground when his legs failed to support him anymore—but nonetheless, he continued to scuttle away from the fox-demon.

"P-Please!" he shouted, "Please grant me mercy!" he pleaded as one of the branches slowly began to creep towards him.

The kitsune eyed him dangerously, "I don't believe in mercy…" he growled.

He shook his head fervently as sweat continued to pour down the side of his face. Yoko did nothing for a moment, but then he decided to take a step closer towards his opponent.

"…Maybe I'll make your pain slightly shorter if you tell me one thing: what is the secret of the Idunn Box?" he growled.

Uraurishima's eyes widened, "I-I don't know!" he told him shakily.

Yoko's eyes narrowed again, "Don't lie to me, low-life…" he snarled, "I can see straight through your feeble deception…"

He paled violently, "…I-It was Onji and Shishiwakamaru! Hell, I'm not even Uraurishima!" he blurted frantically as he scuttled further away from the approaching demon, "Shishiwakamaru and Onji gave me the Idunn Box because they said it would make me a high-class warrior! I can even tell you who made the items—!"

Without warning, there was suddenly a shower of crimson blood that erupted from the side of Ura's collar. A sword was suddenly protruding from his neck and he staggered forward for a moment and let out a small gurgle before he completely toppled onto the arena floor. Uraurishima's skin seemed to blur and almost melt away, only to reveal an entirely different creature.

The kitsune frowned darkly, "…Just a lower-class beast…" he muttered.

Around him, the mist began to fade away as the force field was lifted. Gasps filled the audience as—for the first time—they were able to see the demon now standing in the center of the ring.

"Wow…" Koto gushed as she leaned forward in her eagerness; pressing the microphone close to her face, "Isn't this the shocker of the season? It's that foxy Yoko Kurama! Who would have thought that the akage could turn into a hunky fox demon? Come on, ladies, you've just gotta love that tail and those cute little ears—!" she cut herself off suddenly when there was a beam of light that shot out of Yoko and disappeared with the remaining mist.

The wind blew eerily across the arena and rustled Kurama's red hair—now that he had returned back to normal.

"Aw poop…" Koto pouted as she sat down again, looking rather disgruntled, "Well it looks like Team Urameshi has taken another wind for this round! Juri, how bout you announce the next fight?" the stadium was silent and she waited, "Juri?"

From the edge of the ring, a pair of tiny hands tried to grab onto the concrete arena—and after a bit of struggling, the tiny, child-like version of the referee appeared at the foot of the ring.

Koto sweatdropped (probably along with the rest of the audience), "Uh…um, well then…I guess as Juri tries to recover, I'll have to take over for the time being—YES!" she pumped her fist eagerly.

Across from the Urameshi team, Shishiwakamaru calmly stepped onto the arena with the dice in his hands. But instead of rolling them at once, he strode over towards the corpse of 'Uraurishima' and yanked out the hilt of his sword.

He smirked, "Let's see who's the next lucky one, shall we?

-:-

"Ah…" Keiko quickly glanced down at Puu and Hywein. The penguin-like creature whimpered and seemed to be in pain while the second spirit beast attempted to comfort it.

Botan turned around when she noticed that she had stopped, "What is it, Keiko?" she stopped when she noticed the condition of the two spirit beasts, "Oh…oh, that's not a good sign…" she said to herself quietly, hoping that the other girls wouldn't hear her.

"Puu's in pain…" the brunette said softly, "Does…that mean Yusuke is too?"

The ferry-girl started, "I-I'm not quite sure—"

Unexpectedly, Puu began to squirm in Keiko's arms and without warning; he wrenched away from her grip and started to flap frantically up into the sky. Hywein quickly followed and dashed into the woods and out of their sight.

"Wait! Puu, Hwyein!"

-:-

Genkai sighed heavily and stared up at the sky where the clouds began to recede away from the island. Her features were grim and she rubbed the bridge of her nose gingerly.

How long should she have waited…should she have waited just a little bit longer until she found a student that could have withstood her powers?

She winced as she heard one of Yusuke's screams echo out of the cave towards her.

The older woman gritted her teeth, "…Please forgive me…"

-:-

Shishi let the dice clatter along the arena floor and waited until they came to a halt. He walked over towards them until he was standing next to them—and a smirk curled along his lips.

"Well what do you know…I get to fight for once…" he drawled and his eyes flickered towards the team across from him, "So which on of you wants to be my victim?"

-:-

The guardian's eyes shimmered as they grew wider with each passing moment. Her arms trembled violently at her sides and her legs shook, as if they would collapse beneath her at any moment.

It was like she was in a dream…

…This wasn't real…

Yusuke wasn't really dying…

But she was lying to herself. The situation was all too real…and Yusuke really was dying…

…Right before her eyes…

Mai suddenly found herself shaking her head, without letting her eyes leave the detective. Almost as if it was against her will, she took a staggering step forward and blinked. She blinked again—this time relieving herself of her daze-like state.

Now this time when she shook her head, it was in angry denial; she couldn't take it anymore! And without warning, she suddenly rushed forward and in an instant found her arms wrapping desperately around the detective's abdomen. He appeared to cry out as she touched him, but she would not let go.

"Stop it, Yusuke!" she nearly screamed herself as tears swelled within her eyes, "You're killing yourself! I can't stand it anymore, Yusuke! I can't stand the thought of you leaving me alone!"

At this, the detective seemed to freeze—while his breathing continued to be ragged and heavy. But then Mai suddenly noticed his fists clenching beneath him.

"STAY AWAY FROM ME!"

Without giving her any warning, he turned on her; lashing out at her with his arm. Whatever happened in the next few seconds was all a blur to her, but when she was able to recover, she found herself leaning up against the side of the cavern wall. Her eyes grew wide with both surprise and hurt. Yusuke glared at her only a moment longer before he whirled and furiously began punching another one of the walls.

The guardian's hand shook at her side as she stared off vacantly in front of her. But when her shock had resided, her head slumped and her shoulders began to quiver gently as she raised a single hand to cover her face.

-:-

Shishiwakamaru smirked as he glanced into the stadium where more than a hundred demon girls were screaming and cheering for him. Each one of them swooned as he casually waved to them from the arena.

Kuwabara gritted his teeth, "That jerk…he thinks that he's such a big-shot…" he grumbled.

But as if he had heard him talking, Shishi turned his head towards the Urameshi team again and pointed suddenly at the redhead.

"I'm not really feeling like a fight, really…so let's just make it easy and have you fight me…" he drawled slowly and mockingly.

Kazuma's eye ticked, "What's that?" he demanded, "Are you trying to make fun of me, punk?"

"No one has to _try_ to make fun of you, baka…" Hiei muttered beside him. He cracked his knuckles a moment later, "I'm going to take this bastard; he's seems the strongest anyway…"

But Kurama cut him off, "No, I should fight, Hiei; after all, we know nothing about Onji, we'll need you to rest so that you can fight him—"

The apparition sent him a dangerous glare, as if daring him to step into that ring. All three fighters were determined not to back down from the position and looked as though they'd be ready to fight each other just to get back into the ring.

Kuwabara muttered something under his breath, "I say we settle this with Rock, Paper, Scissors…"

"That does seem to be a logical choice, doesn't it?" Kurama replied, "Seeing how it is that none of us are going to let the other fight any other way—"

"What the hell are you two babbling about?" Hiei demanded, as if feeling left out.

The redhead turned to him, "Rock, Paper, Scissors; it's a ningen game" he explained and showed him the hand motions that went along with each one, "Paper beats rock, rock beats scissors, and scissors beats paper."

He frowned, "How the hell can a piece of paper beat a rock?"

Kurama sighed, "Never mind, Hiei…Ready?" he asked them and held his hand in front of him. The other two followed his lead, "One, two, three!"

The two demons came up with rock, while Kazuma revealed paper.

Kuwabara pumped his fist, "Sweet!"

But Hiei's eyes narrowed dangerously, "You cheated, baka…" he growled.

He stopped in his celebration and glanced down at the apparition, "What'dya mean?" he demanded, "How the hell did I cheat?"

"You delayed your sign…" he answered simply, "We're going to try it again."

"What?" Kazuma shouted, "I won fair and square, shorty! I'm not going to—"

He noticed Hiei's hand fingering the shattered hilt of his katana (that was nonetheless still sharp), "We're doing it…again…" he growled.

But when they did it again, they all somehow managed to pull up rock…

And the next time, they all came up with paper…

When the next round came, however, the two apparitions each had scissors while Kuwabara held out rock.

He smirked smugly and stuck out his tongue at Hiei—who was eyeing his scissors grudgingly, "See? _Now_ I won, shrimpy—what do you say to that?" he called to him as he made his way towards the arena.

The apparition narrowed his eyes at the redhead, "This game sucks."

-:-

Yusuke furiously smashed his head against the rock-face and gritted his teeth against the pain.

But as he clenched the rock between his fingers, there was something that flashed across his eyes. He began to heave in the air around him and his body trembled violently as he stood frozen with his forehead plastered against the wall.

Unexpectedly, the detective slumped to the ground and went still.

Mai drew in a sharp breath when she no longer heard him moving. Removing her face from her hands, she sat paralyzed in shock. But it was only for a moment. With an extreme amount of effort, she made it to her feet once again and staggered to his side, dropping instantly to her knees. Tears of sheer horror filled her eyes as she reached a shaky hand out towards him—only to withdraw it in fear of finding his skin cold.

Her hands covered her face and she began to sob; her tears trickling down through her shaking fingers…

…One managing to land at the corner of the detective's mouth…

The salty teardrop rolled gently along his skin until it trickled through his parted lips.

_What…what is that…? Is someone there…?_ He tried to move his body, but none of his limbs would respond, _dammit…gods, what's wrong with me? What the hell happened…?_

Weakly, he was just able to open his eyes enough to make out the guardian's quivering form.

_Mai…_

The girl started suddenly when she saw his hand twitching slightly; carefully dragging itself towards her. The tears steadily began to subside as she watched him slowly revive himself.

"Yu-Yusuke…?"

He wheezed quietly, "You're…a real sap…you know that, Mai?" he whispered.

She choked on a small laugh as she wiped weakly at her eyes. But the detective soon returned back into his comatose state and the guardian blinked in surprise.

"Yusuke!"

"…Puu…"

Mai turned slightly to find the penguin-like creature waddling precariously towards them. His brow was furrowed in concentration as it cupped its precious supply of water in his ears. Behind him, Hywein carefully made sure that he was alright and mewed sorrowfully when a drop of water spilled.

She watched them quietly, "…Puu…Hywein…"

The guardian allowed herself to back away a little bit as the spirit-beast dribbled the water onto Yusuke's cheek. The water trickled through his mouth, but he didn't stir.

After every drop had been spared, Puu waddled back to the pond sitting at the back of the cave while Hywein followed after. They…they were trying to help him.

Uncertainly, Mai staggered back to her feet—only to nearly fall forward in the process. But she caught herself and stood frozen for a moment—almost hunched over from her near-fall.

She took an unsteady step forward towards the two spirit beasts. The earth around them began to shake as pebbles trickled down from the ceiling. After Urameshi's attacks on the cavern walls, the cave was now losing its structure and was starting to fall apart.

The guardian suddenly collapsed as her knees buckled beneath her.

She winced, "…Ow, dammit…"

Hywein's ears perked and she quickly turned around and trotted back towards her owner. The spirit beast cocked her head up at her worriedly and tried to get the guardian to pet her by forcing her head against her hand. But Mai only heaved desperately the air around her and stared off blankly at the ground.

What was she thinking? There wasn't anything she could do to help him now…he was on his own…

Yusuke groaned quietly as his eyes slowly opened a second time.

_Dammit…I'm not only letting Mai down…_his eyes flickered towards the spirit beast ahead of him; comforting her desperately_…but my inner self too…_

Larger chunks of rocks suddenly began to crash into the ground around them, but Mai couldn't find the strength to move out of the way. Her legs sat useless beneath her as Hywein tried to help her.

"…Puu!" the spirit beast frowned and unexpectedly turned around and began flapping towards the pond nearby.

Mai quickly looked up at this, "—Ah! Puu, wait!" she called out hurriedly as she noticed the falling debris. Her legs trembled as she tried to stand and Hywein mewed unhappily. The guardian stumbled to her feet and staggered after the spirit beast as he flew awkwardly away from her, "Dammit, you're going to get hurt!"

But the penguin-like creature continued to flap away from her towards the pond; desperate to get another bit of water—even as dangerously large chunks of rocks crashed around them. Beads of sweat seemed to appear along his brow, but he also seemed to be loosing his strength as well.

The guardian desperately staggered after him, "Dammit, Puu, stop it!"

He suddenly let out a small whimper as his strength failed him and he started to fall back towards the cavern floor.

"Ah!" Mai stumbled forward and opened her arms to catch him. The spirit beast plopped into her arms as she collapsed to the ground once more and she held him tightly to her chest in a protective fashion. Hywein trotted up beside them and cocked her head up at them.

Yusuke shifted carefully as he tried to lift himself up. The boulders falling from the ceiling began to increase in size and shook the ground when they fell.

_Dammit, you—move you're sorry ass!_

He grunted painfully as he gradually raised himself a few inches off the ground. His body shook tremendously while he watched the boulders crash around him. Dammit, why wouldn't she move? Was she frickin blind or something? With these thoughts beginning to anger him, he was steadily able to get to his knees.

"Dammit, Mai!" he grunted.

The girl turned at the sound of his voice and blinked at him almost dumbly. She still clutched Puu to her chest and tears streamed down her face.

"Move—!" he cut himself off suddenly and his eyes widened when he noticed the ceiling above her beginning to fall away. The guardian quickly followed his gaze and nearly blanched. With Puu in her hands, she tried to move out of its way, but her legs quickly crumpled beneath her and she swore angrily. Above her, the rock continued to break away.

To Yusuke, what happened next was all a blur. Without putting any thought to it, he suddenly found himself dashing madly towards her with only one thing on his mind. As the rock began to fall, his fist shot out in front of him and tiny pebbles clattered around them.

Mai—who had been using her body to shield Puu and Hywein, drew in a sharp breath when she suddenly felt the detective's body lean on top of her. She gasped and on instinct, shot up—only to have Urameshi's form slide to the ground. When she turned, she noticed wisps of energy emitting from his body; the power sent a shiver down her spine.

But the detective didn't stir.

Tears filled her eyes and raced down her face as she fervently shook her head.

"YUSUKE!"

-:-

The gray sunlight streamed through the small clearing and through the moist tree leaves. As she sat against the trunk of the tree, Genkai sighed heavily and lowered her eyes towards the ground. Inwardly, she kept cursing herself; what had she done?

Silence filled the clearing—all save for the quiet chirping of the birds nearby. The older woman sighed again and rubbed the bridge of her nose.

But she froze when a faint noise broke the silence.

Genkai quickly glanced up through the hazy sunlight. She had to blink several times before she was able to see clearing through the glow. With a grim smile, she creakily rose from her seat.

"You surprise me, Yusuke…" she told him as he limped into the clearing, "For awhile there I thought my eagerness had killed my favorite dimwit."

He was able to manage a weak smile while he leaned heavily against Mai's shoulder. But the guardian looked as though she was having an even harder time standing.

The detective glanced down at the crook of his arm wearily, "Yeah…just…make sure Mai watches Puu for me, will ya old hag…?"

He grunted when the old woman took the spirit beast from him and he crumpled. On instinct, Mai reached out to catch him, but buckled down to her knees from his weight.

The guardian winced as she fell to the ground. Hywein mewed weakly beside her and gently rested her head on her knee.

Genkai was quiet for a moment as she watched the girl lean up wearily against the trunk of the tree with Yusuke lying in her lap. With a sigh, she let her head rest against the bark.

Slowly, the older woman came to stand beside her, but her eyes never made contact with the guardian.

"…That test wasn't just for Yusuke…" she stated bluntly.

Mai closed her eyes, but didn't answer right away, "…I know…" she answered quietly and let another pause fill out between them, "…I…kind of realized that when you didn't stop me…even after you told me not to interfere…"

The older woman smirked and chuckled softly. She too, didn't answer right away and her smile slowly faded away, "…I needed to know if you were willing to help him, even when I told you not to; I need to know what your feelings are for him…" she noticed the guardian flush slightly, but she didn't object.

For a moment, Genkai was silent; thinking over what she was going to say next.

"Mai…I need to know what you were willing to do for him…" she continued gravely, "Because I needed to know if you would sacrifice everything for him…"

The guardian suddenly went rigid at her words, "…Wh-Why…?" she whispered.

She didn't reply. There was another silence before she slowly shook her head, "…Don't worry about it, Mai…" she said quietly, "Just rest now; you won't be any use to your team if you're not able to stand…"

But the girl frowned; how could she sound so calm so quickly? You can't just start talking casually after saying something like that! But Genkai didn't exactly notice her perturbed features, however—either that or she was ignoring it.

The older woman started walking out of the clearing, but before she had entirely disappeared, she called over her shoulder, "And no hanky-panky while I'm gone!"

At this, Mai immediately blushed and glanced down at the detective with her cheeks burning red. Then her eyes found the two spirit beasts lying nearby, cuddled up close together.

_Baby you're all that I want…_

Her eyes were beginning to droop, and she was beginning to lull herself to sleep.

Great.

She pouted softly and stared back down at Urameshi while trying to conceal her embarrassment. Taking one of her fingers, she gently prodded him in the shoulder.

Man, he was out cold…

Her head was now beginning to rest against the trunk of the tree as she continued to watch the top of the detective's head. For some reason, all she could think about was how happy she was that he was actually alive; that he had survived Genkai's final test. But at most…

…He hadn't left her alone after all…

_When you're lying here in my arms…_

Mai smiled weakly as she took her finger and gently prodded him in the cheek.

"…Poke…" she whispered just as her eyes closed.

_I find it hard to believe_

There was a moment where that scene was almost frozen in time…until Mai quietly slumped against the trunk of the tree and the entire clearing when silent.

_We're in heaven…_

-:-

a/n: eh, the lyrics seemed a little random in the places I put them (but it kind of goes with the scene, no?)

Anyway, here's my update! After about two weeks :nervous laugh:

PLEASE ENJOY! PEACE AND LUV EVERYONE!


	27. Genkai's Strength

DISCLAIMER: I don't own YYH (or any lyrics that I may use)—but all my original characters are mine, however.

a/n: T.T WHERE IS EVERYONE:sniffle: I know I changed the title, but still…I was kind of disappointed that hardly any of you reviewed

YOU DON'T HATE ME DO YOU? Kitkat doesn't like to be hated, nuh-uh…

Anyway, cookies to those who did review!

Little Sakura 87: T.T thank you so much! That means a lot to me! (I kind of wish she was a real character too…THAT WOULD BE SO COOL!)

Umeko Saito: LOL, well now you can add Hiei to your group of Rock-Paper-Scissors haters, isn't that right, Hiei? (Hiei: Hn…)

Sarah1281: wow, you had a lot of time on your hands didn't you? LoL, but I can see Kuwabara doing that (and Hiei not having a childhood)

XxXHellzFireAngelXxX: hehe, well right now I'm trying to get it up this weekend—but I don't think I will; I have two tests on Monday that I have to study for…

_Thoughts_

_ForeverFornever II_

:Genkai's Strength:

As Mai's body quietly slumped against the base of the tree, the older woman let out a quiet sigh. Turning her back on the pair, she hung her head and stared down at the ground before her. After a moment, she started to make her way through the trees around her.

_Just rest now, you two…_she murmured mentally_…I'll make sure you make it to the final round…_

Sighing a second time, she slowly raised her head towards the treetops and closed her eyes.

"At least I can rest in peace now that the final chapter is starting…"

-:-

"Shishi! We love you, Shishi!"

Most likely every single one of the female demons in the audience was screaming at the top of their lungs and waved frantically at the fighter in the center of the ring. Some of them had even brought signs that they hung over the railings all around the stadium. Shishiwakamaru flickered some of them grins—causing them to melt on the spot.

Kuwabara, on the other hand, didn't seem to be enjoying the fact that his opponent was getting so much attention. He gritted his teeth, and clenched his fist—causing a burst of energy to form his sword between his fingers.

"Er—get over yourself and let's get on with this damn fight!" he shouted irritably after having Shishiwakamaru make fun of him earlier.

The demon turned calmly back towards the redhead and smirked, "If you say so…" he told him almost tauntingly. And as Juri made her way towards the center of the ring (finally recovering from the effects of the Idunn Box), he withdrew a gauzy fabric from within his cloak.

"Be prepared, folks!" Juri shouted into the microphone, "The next match is about ready to begin…" she quickly glanced between both fighters before she raised her hand high above her head, "NOW!"

The minute the words escaped her mouth, Kuwabara was instantly charging at Shishi. He lifted his spirit sword over his head and quickly swiped at his opponent—only to have him step away from it effortlessly. The redhead gritted his teeth angrily—this bastard wasn't even trying!

Angrily, he slashed at the demon. But before his sword could come down, Shishiwakamaru leapt into the air above him. And as if magnetically drawn, the fabric he had been holding followed after him and seemed to swirl hypnotically in the air.

But while Kazuma watched it dumbly, it appeared to be suddenly drawn towards him. However, when he finally realized it, the cloak had nearly surrounded him and there was no place for him to run to. The fabric merely wrapped around him as if it were blown by an invisible breeze…

But when the fabric started to blow away, Kuwabara was no where to be seen.

Shishiwakamaru landed back on the arena floor and placed a hand on his hip calmly, "Hm…I wonder where it sent him this time…" he mused aloud before he shrugged, "But I guess we'll never find out. For all we know he could be in an entirely different dimension—or even floating around somewhere in space. But I guess that's what I get for using the Cape of No Return."

-:-

"HOLY CRAP! HOLY CRAP! HOLY CRAP!"

Kuwabara was—simply put—freaking out. Unable to tell where he was—let alone what was going on—all he could do for the time being was scream and pray that whatever was going on would end soon. He felt his body moving unbelievably fast, almost to the point where it seemed he would never stop.

Without warning however, Kazuma suddenly found the ground (or whatever was beneath him) falling away and he was plummeting downwards. He let out a cry of terror—

But it was soon cut short when he slammed down onto the arena floor.

Groaning, he blinked and sat up on his knees; looking pretty confused.

"What the…? AW CRAP I'M IN THE WRONG STADIUM!" he shouted when it finally occurred to him where he was.

And sure enough, Kazuma was sitting right in the middle of the old arena.

He grumbled furiously to himself, "I wasn't even in the ring for five seconds with that bastard and I already lost!" he sighed, "Al least Yukina wasn't there to see me lose—"

"Hey Kuwabara!"

The redhead glanced up to find the four girls standing along the edge of the stands; they all seemed a little confused to see him.

"Aren't you supposed to be with the others?" Botan asked as she nimbly jumped down onto the sidelines with the other girls following her lead, "What in the world are you doing back here? I mean, I understand how we're here; we're lost. But aren't you—"

He instantly began laughing nervously and scratched the back of his neck, "Heh, you see…about that…"

"You lost didn't you?" Shizuru cut him off and was suddenly standing next to him. Her brother didn't answer her right away…so she decided to answer for him. Before Kazuma could even lift a finger, Shizuru had him in a cloud of dust, pounding on him as if there were no tomorrow, "You thought you could just run away from your fight, didn't you? YOU'RE SUCH A WUSS!"

Keiko and Botan glanced at one another nervously as Kuwabara finally emerged from the brawl; bruised and severely beaten.

He limped over towards the ice apparition nearby and grinned goofily, "Oh Yukina…can you heal Kazuma's itty bitty boo-boos and make them feel better?"

She nodded uncertainly, "A-Alright."

-:-

"Well what do you know…looks like time's up…" Shishiwakamaru mused as he turned to face the remaining two members of the Urameshi team. Both of them gritted their teeth in unison as the demon turned his violet eyes on them.

With the flick of his wrist, he rolled the dice again. They clattered along the arena floor until their skittered to a halt. And without even waiting for Juri to check on them, Shishi made his way towards them and smirked as he observed the kanji symbols.

"…Looks like my team has the free space this time…" his frown turned into a smirk, "Oh, but it looks like your masked fighter isn't present; what a shame."

Hiei cracked his knuckles, "Yeah, what a shame…" he muttered as he made a move towards the ring—

But he was abruptly halted when a hand caught his shoulder.

He turned swiftly to find the masked fighter standing behind him. The apparition frowned however, when he realized that something was different about them. He furrowed his brow; earlier this fighter had an immense power…but now it was nothing compared to the others.

Sensing his thoughts, she narrowed her eyes slightly towards him, "Yusuke has my power," was all she said to him. After that, she simply leapt into the ring to face Shishiwakamaru.

The demon frowned slightly when he too caught a sense of the woman's strength, "How disappointing…" he took his time unsheathing the sword along his belt, "But nonetheless…it should be entertaining to see what lies beneath the mask…"

Juri quickly made her way between the two fighters, "Alright then! The next match: Shishiwakamaru from team Uraotogi and the masked fighter from team Urameshi! BEGIN!"

Shishiwakamaru instantly disappeared from sight and began whizzing back and forth across the ring. The masked fighter followed his movements and at the very moment where he reappeared ahead of her, she leapt backwards out of his sword's reach.

But when the demon came after her again, she leapt higher into the air this time, causing Shishi to jump after her. He slashed out with his sword quick enough that it nearly caught the masked fighter off guard. Fortunately, she was able to lean out of the attack so only the tip of his blade caught the corner of her mask…

The tattered cloth fluttered to the ground moments after the fighters landed back onto the ground…

Kurama nearly took a step backwards, "M-Master Genkai?"

"What do you know…" Hiei crossed his arms, "It really was the old hag…"

All across the stadium, whispers arose—which soon grew to loud shouts of protest. Genkai, on the other hand, looked unfazed by the fact that her cover had been blown.

Shishi gritted his teeth and turned to Juri, "What is this?" he demanded, "This can't be the same younger woman from before! And if she's the substitute I demand to see proof of the younger fighter's death!"

Shouts of agreement erupted from the crowd while on the giant screen, a film sequence from the fight with Ichigaki began to play. But it only added proof to the fact that the fighters looked nothing alike.

Koto placed her hand to her ear as if listening to something. After a pause, she leaned over the microphone, "I guess the committee is going to have to decide on this one—"

Her voice was quickly drowned out by the furious roar of the crowd. Nearly every one of them was getting ready to overrun the entire stadium. But one thing was for sure; each and every one of them wanted team Urameshi dead.

Above the crowds, Koenma gritted his teeth slightly and sighed; this definitely wasn't there day…

Next to him, Jorge seemed to be having a nervous breakdown, "K-Koenma, sir—shouldn't you go tell the committee soon about the two Genkai's? Or…I guess it's only the one Genkai—but still—!"

But even before he had even finished speaking, the demigod quickly made his way off of his armchair and was heading for the door. However, before he could even lift the latch, Koto's voice rang over the loudspeakers again.

"Well it looks like the committee has made their decision…" she said almost nervously as she glanced at the demons surrounding her. Wincing, she continued, "The committee rules in favor of team Urameshi and the fight will continue."

Instantly, the stadium erupted into roars of protest; some of them even went as far as to throw their concession trash at the fox demon.

"Don't be mad at me!" she shouted at them and covered her head.

Kurama blinked, "Well I have to say…I didn't expect that the committee would rule in favor of us…" he said as he placed a hand in his pocket casually.

While he was pondering this, however, Koto was running on her last nerve. She took the microphone in her hand and raised it above her head; making ready to throw it at anybody who yelled at her again. But before she could let it fly, it was abruptly taken from her hand.

She blinked and looked around in confusion before she realized that Toguro was standing next to her.

He held the microphone up and glared at the demons in the stadium with a cold stare, "Stop it. The Urameshi team didn't cheat and to understand why…all you have to do is know who that woman is…"

From the ring, Genkai carefully gritted her teeth as her eyes never left Toguro. He too held her gaze for the longest time, before he turned his head to address the rest of the stadium.

"While employing the spirit wave technique, the body's cells of the user revert to the point in their life that they were most powerful," his cold, hard eyes flickered briefly towards the elderly woman at the center of the ring, "For all of you lowlifes who don't know anything…let me tell you this: that masked fighter is the great psychic Genkai."

With that, he simply handed the microphone back to Koto and made his way silently up the steps. The older woman watched him leave until he disappeared beneath one of the tunnels above them.

But from behind her, Shishi smirked while his fingers drummed along the hilt of his sword, "Well, well…this will turn out better than I thought; through killing you, I can at last receive the fame I deserve!"

Swiftly, both of his hands latched around the hilt of his blade. A foreboding, red aura started to surround him as he held the sword in his hands. He tugged on the handle, causing it to break away; revealing some sort of hideous mass that strangely resembled that of a screaming skull.

Shishiwakamaru narrowed his eyes coldly towards Genkai, "…for my Banshee Shriek will surely be the end of you!"

-:-

"…You know, Kazuma…you could hurry it up just a little bit; if we keep at this pace the match will be over…" Shizuru drawled as she placed her hand in her pocket.

"Well I'm going as fast as I can, okay?" Kuwabara protested heatedly as he continued to trudge onward, "_I'm_ just trying to make sure we don't get lost again! Besides…" he added, "Hiei was all fired up to kill team Uraotogi anyway…"

Yukina glanced up at him curiously, "He seems to be pretty quiet…is he always like that?" she wondered.

He snorted and put his hands behind his head, "Him? He's scary; you shouldn't think he's cool...he's just a stuck up bastard actually…"

Botan whirled on him, "Kazuma Kuwabara, take that back! You shouldn't say that stuff about Yu—!"

Instantly, she clapped her hands over her mouth and her eyes widened. The rest of them stared at her oddly—especially when she started to turn around frantically in circles.

Next to her, Keiko sweatdropped and absently glanced into the woods. She blinked when something caught her eye.

"That…that's weird…" she said aloud.

Kuwabara followed her gaze, "What's weird—? Hey! That's Urameshi!" he shouted almost angrily and immediately stormed off towards him, "That lazy bastard!"

The others followed after him as he made his way into the clearing. They all stopped however, when they noticed the detective and the guardian sleeping beneath the tree. Mai stirred slightly as they approached, but she didn't wake up.

Keiko bent down and lifted Puu and Hywein into her arms. Kazuma managed to pry Yusuke away from the guardian's death-like grip and lifted him over his shoulder while Shizuru and Botan held Mai between them.

"Well we can't exactly leave them here…" the redhead grumbled as he made his way back towards the stadium, "Though I'm not quite sure what we're going to do with them when we get back…" he briefly glanced down at the detective and then at Mai, "Man, they're both out cold…"

The ferry-girl made a face, "…I wonder what they were doing all the way out here—and I don't see the masked fighter anywhere…"

Shizuru shifted Mai's weight for a moment, "Well, wherever the hell they are, it doesn't really matter now, does it? We might as well find someplace to put these two; judging by the fact that they're both KO'd, they won't be much use for the rest of the match."

The rest of them nodded and with that, they once again started their march back towards the stadium…

But for a moment, Keiko stayed behind; silently watching the two spirit beasts in her hands. After a moment she sighed heavily and followed after the others…

-:-

Karasu's eyes narrowed and flickered briefly towards the demon next to him. On the other side of Toguro a fourth member stood silently watching the fight.

His eyes continued to narrow as he turned his own attention back towards the arena, "I'm disappointed, Toguro…" he drawled, "This Genkai of yours…she's nothing like the stories I've heard…" he calmly folded his arms over his chest as if daring him to tell him otherwise.

But the demon smirked in amusement, "…You'll find any answer you're looking for in Yusuke Urameshi, Karasu…because what power was the master's is now the student's…"

The violet-eyed demon stared at him curiously; confused by his words.

Toguro casually placed his hands in his pockets, his eyes never leaving the arena.

"Be assured…before the finals begin…

"Genkai's days will end."

-:-

The old woman's eyes narrowed slightly as she watched Shishiwakamaru. She glanced down at her hands warily; she probably only had enough energy for three blasts…but that might not be enough to get her through the match…

The demon opposing her smirked as his stance switched. As if holding a pendulum, he started to swing his sword back and forth—so that its tip barely grazed the arena floor. Gaining momentum, he then raised it above his head.

"It was a pleasure meeting you, old hag…" he growled under his breath. The sword above his head steadily began to twirl—until it was turning so fast that it was merely a blur hovering over Shishiwakamaru. But as it continued to whirl…a strange noise slowly began to resonate from its center.

An instant later however, trails of light began to emit from the blade and rushed hurriedly into the nearby stands. Genkai took an instinctive step backwards—

But without warning, a hideous shrieking sound erupted through the stadium. The demons in the crowd screamed and covered their ears desperately.

Koenma winced painfully and covered his own ears, "What…the hell is that?"

Shishi smirked as he steadily brought the blade down from above him; it was almost as if he was gaining power from the screams enveloping the stadium. First he spun it at his left, then at his right before it went to revolve behind him. But suddenly, horns sprouted on the top of the demon's head and his eyes began to glow with a fiery rage.

"CHORUS OF A THOUSAND SOULS!"

Out of the blue, a blast suddenly erupted around Shishiwakamaru; sending bursts of red light spiraling into the nearby stands. Rubble from the arena flew into the air along with it, causing a cloud of dust to swirl around him.

From that cloud however, what appeared to be skulls shot out towards the stands; screeching and howling as they went. These souls quickly sought out any living being they could find.

The audience was quick to realize the power of these spirits. As they began attacking the demons within the crowd, it soon became apparent that they would engulf anything that they devoured; building some sort of power within them.

Frantic, the demons desperately tried to scramble away from the souls pursuing them—but it seemed as though they were able to find them anyway. Several of the audience members had the gruesome pleasure of having their own skulls snapped off of their shoulders—only to have their entire body devoured moments later.

Kurama eyed the souls nervously before swiftly turning to the apparition next to him, "Hiei—"

But fortunately, his companion was already ahead of him. He said nothing, but around the pair a faint dome of energy appeared to ward off the attacking foes.

Suddenly, the skulls turned back towards the arena at the center of the stadium. In unison, all of them abruptly dived straight towards the psychic standing. Genkai's eyes narrowed milliseconds before the attack collided—causing a cloud of dust to billow into the stadium.

Shishi smirked and held his sword out in front of him haughtily.

"Heh…I'll be a legend now that the great psychic Genkai is—!"

He was abruptly cut off when they dust began to clear. Before him lay a giant crater…but the old woman's remains were no where in sight. Shishiwakamaru frowned slightly; maybe it had worked better than he thought?

Then he heard someone laughing behind him. He whirled to find Genkai standing unscathed from the blow. The demon gritted his teeth furiously as the elder woman smiled in amusement.

"Would you care to try that again?" she asked tauntingly, "I'm afraid I wasn't quite sure if you wanted to kill me or not with that attack…"

Shishi's eyes flickered, "Why you…" he gripped his blade between his fingers until his knuckles turned white, "You can't run from the Chorus of a Thousand Souls forever! Either your luck or your knees are bound to give up sooner or later!"

All across the stadium, the demons paled; they were nearly positive of what Shishiwakamaru was planning on doing—

And they sure as hell weren't going to stick around for the finale.

-:-

"See? I told you I would get us there!" Kuwabara shouted triumphantly as they stood in front of the stadium.

Botan sighed, "Yes, well…we _did_ get lost once back there…" she corrected—and the redhead puffed out his cheeks irritably.

He shifted Urameshi's weight on his shoulder, but blinked suddenly when he noticed several demons sprinting out from one of the entrances. The company watched them oddly as they made a mad dash towards the surrounding forest area.

"GET OUT OF THE FRICKIN WAY!"

"What the hell…?"

Kazuma pondered for a minute, "…The match can't possibly be over, can it—?"

But as if answering his question, Koto's voice suddenly rang out from the speakers surrounding the stadium.

"What do you know, folks? That old psychic Genkai is still standing!"

It took a moment for this to process through the redhead's brain, "No way…That can't be Genkai!" he insisted—and without warning dropped Yusuke onto Botan and the other girls.

"Kazuma!" the ferry-girl shouted after him as she tried to hold onto the detective and Mai at the same time.

"Yeah thanks a lot, jackass!" Shizuru called after him heatedly and made a rather rude hand gesture, causing Yukina and Keiko to blush slightly, "That's just like him too…" she grumbled irritably as she tried to help Botan balance the two teenagers.

-:-

Shishi's eyes narrowed darkly towards the old psychic. But after a moment, he held the blade before him and smirked, "My sword knows more attacks than the Chorus of a Thousand Skulls…" he growled.

Without warning, the blade was suddenly pulsating with an eerie blue glow; radiating into the audience. Only seconds later, it once again let out that horrible shrieking sound, causing the demons to scream in pain—and add to Shishiwakamaru's power.

Kuwabara skidded to a halt abruptly as the shrill cry echoed through the corridor. He immediately clapped his hands to his ears and winced painfully. What the hell was that?

As the crowd continued to scream in pain however, the pulsars grew stronger and stronger until it seemed as though the power it was emitting would overflow and explode in Shishi's hand. But before it had a chance to do that, Shishiwakamaru suddenly plunged the blade into the arena before him—creating a furious, ripple-effect that rose up around both fighters.

The older woman frowned slightly as she glanced quickly at the walls suddenly surrounding her and her opponent. It took her only a moment before she realized that the barrier was created by the souls of the demons collected earlier, and their energy was now trapping them within the force field.

Shishi's eyes flickered towards the psychic from where he stood kneeling next to his sword. He paused for a moment before he slowly rose to his feet, "…People like you who fight for justice make me wretch…" he growled distastefully.

Genkai cocked an eyebrow towards him, "Really? And where did you get the impression that I was a hero?" she wondered.

He smirked, "Make no mistake, old hag—when I defeat you, I _will_ be a star…and you'll be nothing more than a pile of ash at my feet; your reign of fame is at an end."

It was her turn to smirk at this, "You think I'm a star, is that it?" she asked in amusement, "…Well then, if that's the case, maybe you should watch and learn something from this old hag."

Shishiwakamaru gritted his teeth furiously and he quickly swiped his sword out in front of him, "I will defeat you!" he screamed

In an instant, he was in the air with his blade raised high above his head. Genkai watched his movements as he hovered above her.

She narrowed her eyes and clenched her fists at her side. It was only a matter of seconds before her hands were crackling with black sparks.

The older woman waited until the last possible second—and as Shishi's sword was coming down on top of her.

"YOU WILL DIE!"

But before the demon could even hit his mark, Genkai had suddenly caught the blade between her hands. Shishi gritted his teeth furiously and could only watch as the old psychic was surrounded in a veil of energy…

To be more exact however—_his_ energy.

Genkai's eyes narrowed towards the demon suspended before her. Shishiwakamaru stared in a transfixed awe as he watched the lines creasing along her face smooth out and her hair regain it's deep pink color and sheen. Her golden brown eyes shimmered for a moment before they showed their original luster.

"What the hell?" he cried furiously.

But the—now younger—woman narrowed her eyes and frowned darkly at her opponent. The energy that hovered around her was so intense that it even spread out towards Shishi's body and enveloped him as well.

Her fingers clenched dangerously around the sword—and without warning, her eyes were suddenly giving off an eerie blue color, "SPIRIT REFLECTION BLAST!" she roared.

She dragged the sword to her side where a giant blue orb flickered around her hands. And before Shishiwakamaru could even react to the formation of the attack, Genkai suddenly threw the ball of energy directly towards him.

The cage they were trapped in was immediately surrounded by the light—and only an instant later, the force field shattered while sending Shishi back at the same time. The blast exploded upwards; creating a fountain-like explosion above the audience.

Shishi on the other hand, tumbled across the arena floor painfully. He grunted as he slid to a halt, but Genkai calmly walked towards him.

"How could you…Where the hell did you get that energy?" he demanded wrathfully.

"I couldn't afford to waste my own energy," she explained calmly, "So I simply borrowed some of yours…"

The demon gritted his teeth and instantly jumped to his feet, "How could you do such a vindictive thing to me, you second-rate thief?" he roared, "I swore I would kill you—and I'm sure as hell not going to give that up!"

He thrust out his sword angrily before him. The hideous, skull-like form began to give off an eerie green glow from its hollow eyes and mouth. Then there was a dull moaning sound as the spirits of the demon souls seeped forth from the openings; swirling around Shishiwakamaru's hand and arm.

Instantly, the specters charged towards Genkai; using Shishi's rage to guide them. But the woman merely stood as if waiting for them to attack her, but when they were nearly upon her she raised her arms in from of her chest in a horizontal line. A dull force field flickered around her and the souls crashed into it and dispersed.

Shishiwakamaru gritted his teeth furiously, "What…?" his hands clenched around the hilt of his sword until his knuckles turned white and a red aura blazed around the blade, "WHY WON'T YOU JUST DIE?"

The energy whipped around him now; powered by his fury. He charged blindly at Genkai; leaping above her once again and raising the sword to strike.

But the woman frowned towards him—and as he rapidly approached, it was as if she sucked the barrier surrounding her into her hands.

"SPIRIT REFLECTION BLAST!"

It exploded in front of her. Shishi was unlucky enough to be standing before her when she let off the attack. It blasted across the arena and even towards the opposite side of the stadium where several audience members had to scramble out of its way.

The demon screamed as the attack carried him across the ring. His sword was thrown out in front of him, but the force of the blast pulled at its hilt until the Banshee Shriek completely snapped away. When he was finally relieved of the attack, his body slid across the floor; creating a billow of dust behind him.

He wheezed as he tried to sit back up. His eyes grew wide however, when he noticed Genkai standing before him and next to his shattered blade. He seemed to stare at her in confusion.

"I…I see now…" he whispered quietly, "You don't fight for justice…but you don't fight for power either…" a weak smile played at the corner of his lips, "I think I may have fallen in love. If things had turned out differently for us, and if you still looked like this all the time we could have been together…once…"

His eyes went blank for a moment, but then they closed and his head lolled onto the arena floor.

Juri blinked for a moment and carefully nudged the fallen demon with her finger. When he didn't wake up, she rose and held the microphone to her mouth, "Shishiwakamaru from team Uraotogi is unable to fight (a/n: holy crap that sounded like Pokemon…), so I grant Genkai from team Urameshi the win—!" she turned to the younger woman—only to blink in surprise; she had returned back into her elderly form. The sea-demon laughed nervously for a moment, "…Yeah, well…"

-:-

From high above them, Toguro felt a smile curl at his lips; well hadn't this turned out better than he thought…? His eyes flickered towards his companion standing next to him, "Clearly, Karasu…she still lives up to her legends…" his smile darkened, "…The only way to defeat her is with absolute force…"

The raven-haired demon narrowed his eyes, "So it seems…"

-:-

"This is a joke…" Hiei growled as he watched the elderly man across from their team, "He's the only fighter left on their team and he's just an old bat…"

But as he was talking, Onji shuffled onto the ring and stood next to his fallen companion. Fishing through Shishi's pockets, he withdrew the pair of dice and held them aloft in his hands. He grinned almost pleasantly as he faced the Urameshi team.

"Well it looks like it's up to me," he told them in a near cheerful manner, "Let's see who I'll have to fight…" He tossed the die over the arena floor and watched as it clattered along the tile flooring.

Juri frowned as she leaned over to read the kanji, "Um…well it looks like the winner is Kuwabara—but since he's probably in a different dimension by now I—"

"You giving up on me so easily?"

All heads turned to find Kuwabara standing next to Koto (after prying the microphone away from her, that is). The fox demon was looking rather peeved and sat with her arms crossed over her chest.

"For I, Kazuma Kuwabara—warrior of love and all that is good—will not give up a fight that easily!"

"…My god, he's back…" Hiei muttered.

-:-

Shizuru nearly paled at the sound of her brother's voice echoing over the loudspeakers. Behind her, Botan, Keiko and Yukina were helping to try and get the detective and the guardian situated against one of the nearby trees.

"Dammit! That idiot's using our name again!" she shouted angrily and suddenly started running back towards the stadium, "I'm gonna kill that stupid, smart-ass punk!" she pledged.

The ferry-girl blinked, "Eh? W-Wait! Shizuru, come back!" she called after her, but the older girl was already fighting her way back into the arena, "Uh…well we might as well follow her now, come on Yukina."

Next to her, the ice-apparition nodded obediently and quickly followed after the blue-haired girl as they made their way through the crowds.

But Keiko however, remained behind a moment longer. She almost seemed to stand uncertainly in front of the sleeping pair.

For a moment she merely stood there; listening quietly to Kuwabara's droning on the speakers surrounding the stadium…and then to Mai and Yusuke breathing quietly in front of her. After a pause, she carefully knelt down in front of them; her eyes lingering on the two of them for a long time.

Her eyes then fell on the detective—whose head was now leaning on top of Mai's. She sighed as she watched him sleep…but blinked suddenly when I thought occurred to her…

He had gotten taller…

The brunette quirked her head to the side as if trying to see him at a better angle. But then it seemed as though she couldn't find what she was looking for and she straightened her head with a weak smile.

She hadn't realized how much the two of them had changed in the past few years. Her eyes flickered towards Mai for a moment and studied her…

She hadn't realized how much the two of them had changed at all…

Softly, a small smile curled around her lips, "I'm leaving this pain-in-the-rear with you now, Mai…so you better make sure he keeps up with that schoolwork of his…"

With that, she stood once again and then turned her attention back towards the detective. Her gaze seemed distant for a moment, but then she shook her head and smiled at him sadly…

"…Later, Yusuke…"

-:-

a/n: SWEET! I'M DONE! LoL, which is good, cuz I have a lot of stuff I need to do over the weekend, so I hope you all enjoyed! (Haha, and if anyone noticed, it got kind of annoying writing "Shishiwakamaru" over and over again so I just had to settle with "Shishi" at some times)

PLEASE REVIEW PEOPLE! I want to make sure that all of you still know where this story is (since I changed it's title that is) I'm not really trying to sound desperate or anything, I just want to make sure that I don't need to send out emails to some of you, that's all.

CIAO EVERYONE!

Ps: AH! I'm so poor now! Hehe, but I guess it was worth it cuz I bought the next two DVD's for YYH!


	28. Suzuka's Challenge

DISCLAIMER: I don't own YYH or any lyrics I may use in these chapters (unless I say otherwise) but all my original characters and plot additions _are_ mine.

a/n: hehe, well just for a heads-up I did kind of make Suzuka a bit of a fruitcake (OKAY OKAY! I made him a major fruitcake ya happy?) but when he meets back up with Kuwabara and Kurama later, he should be a bit more normal-ish…

Anyway, cookies to my reviewers!

Little Sakura 87: LoL, yeah sorry about that :nervous laugh: I about had a psychological spasm after writing that sentence/author's note (so I know how you feel)

Daylight Dancer: I think your idea sounds really fun(ny? I'm not sure if you wanted it to be, but I'm sure you could make it funny) Unfortunately, I can't really think of any time I'll be able to put that in :nervous laugh: but you're welcome to make a one-shot or a mini-fic if you want to!

Umeko Saito: LOL

Shadowkitsune7: T.T thank you so much! I'm so luved:huggles Yusuke plushie: LOL

_Thoughts_

_Forever Fornever II_

:Suzuka's Challenge:

A breeze gently stirred the clearing outside of the stadium. Mai stirred slightly and seemed to frown in her sleep. Her hand shifted and weakly clutched at the fabric of the detective's shirt and her brow furrowed as if fending off an image of her mind.

Away from them, a twig suddenly snapped. From the gloom of the trees a trio of demons appeared from the direction of the stadium. They all stopped however, when they saw the pair sleeping beneath the tree in front of them.

One of the group snickered, "Would you look at the meat on that girl…"

The other demon beside him smirked, "I wouldn't mind digging my claws into something like that…" he commented with an unnatural luster in his eyes.

Their companion growled under his breath, "I could care less about her…" he muttered irritably, "I'd rather get rid of that bastard sitting next to her!" he took a step towards them, "Think about it…if we kill Urameshi off we'll be heroes! And if it wasn't for him we'd still be in this damn tournament!"

The other two standing next to him thought about it for a moment before nodding in agreement.

"And if you ask me…" the third demon continued while moving closer towards the tree, "…I don't want to wait until he wakes up!"

Without waiting for his companions, the apparition suddenly charged towards the detective sitting at the base of the tree. But before he had even made it halfway across the clearing, something suddenly slammed into the side of his face, causing spurts of blood to appear at the corners of his mouth and nose. He staggered for only a moment before collapsing onto the ground, unconscious.

His other two comrades blanched and glanced quickly across the clearing to find the small child, Rinku grinning smugly at the horrified looks of the two demons. Behind him, Chu (nonetheless drunk once again judging by the half-empty liquor bottle in his hand) stood with his eyes narrowed towards them.

They instinctively took a step backwards and turned to run—only to find an ice apparition and a wind master waiting for them. The two demons whimpered pitifully before they were able to high-tail it out of the clearing and out of harm's way.

Jin grinned and placed his hands behind his head. His feet lifted off the ground and he hovered in front of the detective and the guardian with a satisfied look on his face.

"See? Didn't I tell yeh? I told yeh they'd be together by the end of the tournament!" he boasted proudly.

The ice apparition next to him rolled his eyes and rubbed the bridge of his nose, "Yeah, you told us—about a hundred times after your fight with Urameshi…"

"But I was right wasn't I?" he grinned and tapped the side of his head knowingly, "See? I should be some sorta matchmaker, I should! And I'll say to my customers 'Did yeh know I was the one who set up Urameshi and that there guardian?'"

Touya stared at him oddly, "But you didn't set them up…"

He grinned again, "Heh, but I knew they were gonna be together didn't I? I'm so smart!"

"Right…" Rinku said—almost to the brink of sarcasm—after he had cut into the conversasion, "Don't you think you should keep your voice down?" he wondered, "No doubt they'll be pissed off if they wake up to the sound of your voice."

"I'm not worried!" the wind master insisted, "Hell, they probably can't even hear us—!"

Jin suddenly let out a rather high-pitched scream as a tiny (emphasis on 'tiny') bullet of energy whizzed past the side of his face. He stumbled in the air before he crashed onto the ground.

The other three demons turned their heads to find Mai watching them with half-lidded eyes; her index finger pointed weakly at the place where the wind master had been hovering.

"You're too damn loud, Jin…" she moaned irritably and sighed. She paused however, and gestured towards the wind master, "What's wrong with him?"

Rinku turned with his hands behind his head and shrugged (despite the fact that Jin was curled up into a ball and rocking back an forth), "Yeah, we've been wondering about that…" he said and scratched the side of his face, "But we've concluded that he's got some phobia of 'spirit guns' ever since his fight with Urameshi."

The guardian watched the cowering wind master for a moment longer before she sighed wearily for a second time. She closed her eyes for a long time before she was able to open them again, "Well I guess it would be nice if I said 'Thanks' for taking care of those guys, wouldn't it?" she said with a weak smile.

"Oi, ya knew there those demons out here?" Chu asked and cocked an eyebrow towards the guardian.

She smiled again weakly; "I might have been unconscious, but I'm never fully unaware…" she informed them. Mai hesitated before she lifted her eyes towards the trio of fighters, "But what I _am_ unaware of is why you helped us…With the exception of Rinku, you all lost to one of us…"

At this Chu grinned, "Heh, Urameshi did alright by me—and I don't forget that kinda stuff."

"And I wanted to make sure I could get a rematch out of you if we ever meet again," Touya said to her—and she was happy to see him smile when he said this.

Jin—who had miraculously recovered from his 'brush with death'—was now hovering upside-down in front of the pair and studying the detective curiously, "Yeh know…there's somethin' different about him…" he mused and frowned after a pause, "Like…like he's gotten stronger or somethin'"

The guardian closed her eyes, "That would be a good guess…" she said to him wearily, "…He'll just have to learn how to control what he's learned…"

They watched her with curiosity, but their attention shifted when Yusuke stirred slightly.

"…Stop…treating me like a baby, Mai…" he mumbled through his sleep.

At this, the group of apparitions burst out laughing. Chu and Jin were even bent over after laughing so hard. The guardian smiled weakly, "He has a knack for talking in his sleep, doesn't he?"

Chu grinned, "Heh, well now that those buggars are taken care of—we'll just leave ya two to keep havin' ya 'naughty'…"

The others grinned and waved as they left the pair alone in the clearing. Mai however, frowned and her eyes shifted upwards towards the sleeping detective.

After a moment she sighed irritably and rested her head once again, "Why do people always say that?" she wondered aloud.

-:-

"And let the next match—BEGIN!"

Instantly, Kuwabara charged after the old man; throwing punch after punch at him. But Onji easily sidestepped each attack with ease—causing the redhead's anger to rise even further.

But when none of his punches would make contact with his opponent, he jumped back a few feet and clenched his fists. A moment later, a rod of energy blasted from his hand into his spirit sword. He slashed it in front of him for practice before he raced blindly back towards the old man; madly swinging the blade.

Onji was again easily able to avoid the blows—while keeping his hands folded calmly behind his back.

The redhead gritted his teeth furiously, "Stop running! Be a man and fight me, dammit!"

He raised his eyes slowly towards the younger fighter and grinned (almost to the point where it was a smirk), "You can swing all you want, my boy, but I won't move away from your next attack…"

"What?" Kuwabara gritted his teeth further, "You think this is a joke, don't you?"

But the old man said nothing and stood calmly waiting for the redhead to make his move. Kazuma frowned darkly as he raised his sword at his side. He hesitated only a moment before he charged once again towards his opponent.

However, before he had even gotten halfway across the arena, Onji lifted his hands in front of him. A dark orb appeared in his palms and expanded until it was nearly twice his size—and even then it continued to grow. Energy crackled along its surface as it seemed to feed off of Onji's power.

Kazuma on the other hand—intent how he was of getting a hit out of the old man—continued to charge across the stadium. But the moment the tip of his blade skimmed the surface of the sphere, it instantly sucked him into its center.

Onji glanced up at him from the ground as the orb hovered calmly above the arena floor, "I'm wondering…do you recognize the attack? I wouldn't be surprised if you did; it just happens to be the same attack that the Cape of No Return was derived of…although I thought a bit of variation was in store."

The redhead was—by now—banging frantically on the force field around him. But to now avail did the orb release him.

Instead, there was suddenly a flash of light across the stadium and both Kuwabara and the sphere were gone.

"Wow…and I actually thought for a moment that he couldn't be that idiotic…" Hiei mumbled and crossed his arms irritably.

Juri stood at the center of the ring and waited a good ten seconds before she raised her hand and gestured gallantly towards the old man, "Times up! Onji from team Uraotogi takes the win!"

-:-

Kazuma crashed to the floor with a groan. His head spun as he looked around—

At the old arena.

He muttered something under his breath, "So much for variety…"

-:-

For a final time, the die clattered across the ring before coming to a delayed stop. Onji calmly made his way towards its resting place and then looked up with a smirk at the Urameshi team.

Juri glanced down at the kanji writing before addressing the audience, "Well it looks like the psychic Genkai is up to bat again!"

Taking her cue, the older woman silently made her way onto the arena—with her eyes never leaving her opponent. But across from her Onji made a short laugh as if he found the situation amusing and he calmly stayed where he was.

"It appears to be a battle of the elderly, doesn't it?" he wondered aloud, but Genkai only narrowed her eyes at him.

"Cut the crap," she muttered, "And drop that act of yours while your at it—you're disguises are a joke."

The old man cocked an eyebrow at her curiously, but then he smirked and chuckled darkly. He raised his hand to his face and ripped away a layer of skin—but his smirk still remained. An eerie red aura pulsated around him as he began to chant in a language that none of the audience members could understand.

But as he was chanting, a billow of smoke began to surround the fighter until he was no longer visible. When the mantra abruptly came to a stop however, the smoke dispersed to reveal an entirely different opponent.

Now the fighter that stood in front of Genkai was dressed in a way that oddly—or freakishly, whichever one fit him best—resembled that of a clown. He was even adorn with the proper face paint and a rubber nose.

He gallantly raised his hands above his head and laughed almost triumphantly, "I should have known that I couldn't hide my identity for long against you, old woman! But nor could I keep my beautiful face a secret—for I am the Beautiful Suzuka! And everyone would have had to known how beautifully beautiful I am sooner or later!"

But even Genkai had to contain her composure when she snorted in amusement, "You're a real fruitcake, you know that?"

Hiei blinked from the sidelines, "…I hate to say it…but that idiot is even making the baka look smarter…" he told him in near disbelief

His companions smiled nervously, "That seems to be the case…"

But Suzuka was not pleased with Genkai's reaction, "What are you saying?" he demanded, "Are you saying that I'm not beautiful?"

She smirked, realizing that she was striking a nerve, "What I'm saying is that for someone who wants to be recognized, you hide behind a lot of masks…"

The fighter paused for a moment, but this didn't stop him from smirking in amusement, "Ah…but with mystery comes colossal power…" he informed her slyly, "And with that colossal power all will love me!"

"SHUT UP YOU OLD FAG!" one of the demons shouted from the stadium. Neither of the fighters had realized (until now that is) that the crowd was now in an uproar over Suzuka and his "beautiful face".

Botan and Shizuru could be considered among them over the irritation of the clown-man.

"Gods, he's so annoying!" the ferry girl shouted angrily, "If I was down there I would beat him up right now just to keep him from talking!"

"GET OFF THE RING, FRUITCAKE!" Shizuru shouted beside her and sent him a rather rude gestured involving her middle finger, "Dammit—someone just shoot him through the head now! That would save us all a butt-load of suffering!"

Suzuka gritted his teeth angrily. But to silence the unruly crowd, the fighter suddenly shot a blast of energy straight into the stands. Rubble scattered into the air and around the remaining demons as the clown's fist shook furiously at his side.

But whirling on the old woman in front of him he suddenly raised his hands out in front of him, "No one makes fun of me, old hag—and you'll be the last!"

Streams of energy erupted from his hands; shooting across the arena in a variety of colors.

"RAINBOW CYCLONE!" he roared (a/n: o yeah, you _totally_ don't sound like a fruitcake when you say that).

Genkai refused to move however, even as the energy pushed her across the arena and evne to the edge of the sidelines where the attack finally exploded.

The fighter smirked at his handiwork—but that sneer soon faded when he noticed the old woman emerging from the rubble unscratched and unharmed. Without a word, she nimbly leapt back into the ring to face Suzuka.

She waited a moment before she casually inquired, "So what happened to that nose of yours, Suzuka?"

He blinked, "Wha…? What are you—?" he cut himself off when he noticed his rubber nose bouncing against the old woman's finger casually as she smirked in amusement.

"Guys! GUYS!" Kuwabara suddenly appeared behind Kurama and Hiei after returning from the old stadium, "What's happened—have I missed anything?"

Hiei rolled his eyes, "Oh yay we're saved now that the baka—who can't stay in the ring for more than ten seconds—has returned five-hundred seconds too late," he said sarcastically, "Tell me which do you think is worse: losing to an old man or a clown?"

The redhead scowled furiously, but before he could come up with a decent comeback, Genkai was talking again.

"You're no fighter, Suzuka…and that being said, I don't think I'll have to waste any of my spirit energy on you…" she informed him.

But the clown smirked, "Well then…if you won't use any spirit energy—then neither will I!"

With that, he raised his fists above him and gritted his teeth. All over his body, his muscles began to pump up to nearly twice their normal size.

And above them in the box seats, Toguro chuckled, "Aw, he's copying me…" he said in enjoyment.

Genkai on the other hand took no amusement in the matter, "You're just a weak-ass punk, Suzuka!" she shouted at him—and before the clown could answer her, she suddenly disappeared from his sight only to reappear an instant later right beside his head. Her fist slammed into the side of his face and sent him skidding across the arena floor.

The older woman suddenly jumped straight on top of his back—with the sickening crack of his spine—before she jumped off and kicked him up into the air.

But as he was falling, Genkai appeared below him and the fighter landed directly on her fist. She furiously began punching his back and flipping him around until his face had become a bloody pulp. His hair now lay askew in several different places and his eyes were no longer visible behind the large welts over his face.

Suzuka staggered for a moment before he crashed into the ground below him.

She quirked an eyebrow after a moment, "Oh whoops…I forgot to look at that so-called beautiful face of his…"

-:-

"Man, I can't believe I lost twice to that same attack!" Kazuma grumbled furiously as they made their way through the halls of the stadium.

"I can." Hiei muttered too quietly for him to hear.

"Aw, who cares now, Kuwabara? You all made it to the finals thanks to Genkai!" Botan reminded him cheerfully (especially now that Suzuka had finally shut up).

But none of them noticed the older woman's eyes flicker briefly down another corridor.

She abruptly made a turn down the other hallway; "I have matters to attend to…" she told them all bluntly—as well as leaving them completely and utterly confused.

As she traveled down the corridor, she soon found that a voice stopped her:

"That was a pretty amusing fight, Genkai…"

Her eyes snapped upwards—but she didn't seem surprised to find Toguro leaning casually against one of the nearby walls. She noticed his eyes flicker beneath his sunglasses. She stopped walking and he straightened casually; placing his hands back into his pockets.

It seemed as though he would simply walk past her, but he paused…his permanent smirk fading from his lips.

"…We have to have that little talk of ours…"

Genkai's eyes never left the floor…

"I know."

-:-

A breeze rustled the sheets across the room as well as the curtains near the window. Mai stirred slightly and held onto the detective's hand even tighter; muttering something that sounded oddly enough like 'Urameshi you ass…'

Kuwabara watched them curiously from beside the window. Puu rested in the crook of his arm while Hywein was probably feeling more contented on the guardian's lap. Yusuke was comfortably snoring along the bed and Mai sat next to him in a chair; holding onto his hand with her death-like grip.

"Should they really be sleeping this long?" he wondered.

Genkai—who was standing just across from him—glanced briefly at the sleeping pair before closing her eyes, "They're fine…you don't have to bother them…"

He frowned slightly, "Yeah, but if they keep sleeping like this, they'll miss the finals," he shuddered momentarily, "And they'd both be pissed at me if I let that happen…"

Kazuma noticed a weak smile at her lips, "There's no doubt about that…" she agreed and paused. For a moment she went silent and her eyes remained on the guardian and the detective. Then she sighed and turned back to the redhead, "You have a good heart, Kuwabara...don't let anyone tell you otherwise…"

He blinked in confusion, but the old woman didn't say anything else.

The room went silent for a moment—until Kazuma lifted his head suddenly and studied the old woman, "Hey Genkai, I just realized something…all those times when you and Mai disappeared—did that mean that she always knew it was you behind the mask?"

"She's known the entire time," she told him simply.

Kuwabara frowned, "Then why didn't she tell any of us?" he wanted to know.

Genkai's facial expression didn't falter, "She was only following orders," she answered, "I asked her not to tell any of you who I was—because then you slackers would think you had an easy ticket through this tournament…" she let out a short, grim laugh, "And it would have made me just a little bit uneasy to have a hoard of demons out for my blood this entire time…"

"She's been acting weird lately," Kazuma said suddenly.

The old woman looked up at him curiously but didn't say anything.

He sighed and leaned up against the wall behind him, running his hand briefly through his hair, "We ran into Yusuke and Keiko the other night…and Mai looked really upset; I didn't know why though. And after that, she was even worse," he paused for a moment, thinking, "Not to mention that she's been around Urameshi more than she has Kurama—they haven't broken up or something, have they?" he asked.

But Genkai was silent. Her eyes however, never left the sleeping pair and she appeared deep in thought for the longest time. Kazuma watched her for awhile before he sighed and absently scratched the side of his head.

"They're bond is growing stronger."

Kuwabara glanced up quickly at the older woman when she spoke. She hadn't moved at all, nor had her expression changed.

For the longest time, she didn't go on—but when she did, it was with a deep sigh, "…I only noticed it earlier when I had given Yusuke my spirit orb…" she paused; her eyes growing distant for a moment, "For only a few minutes she felt it; she felt the horrible pain that Yusuke was going through at the time…"

She paused and Kazuma waited for her to go on.

"…But…it was only in those few moments that it became clear that their bond with one another was stronger than I believed it to be—I knew their connection would be powerful to begin with, but this probably exceeded all my expectations," she slowly shook her head, "The spirit orb was attracted to Yusuke's spirit energy—and would continue to mold itself into his energy until it was satisfied…"

Genkai stopped again, this time for a lot longer. She seemed older all of a sudden and her gaze became distant as she watched the guardian and the detective.

"What I didn't realize was that their bond was strong enough that Mai's energy could be mistaken for Yusuke's…so she went under the same agony as him until the orb realized its mistake," she sighed heavily, "In a sense I'm glad to know that they care that much about each other…but I'm disappointed in myself that I didn't see it before…"

Kuwabara was silent for a second before he smiled weakly, "Well that would explain a few things wouldn't it…Oh," he looked up above Genkai, "Hey, Kurama…"

The old woman's eyes flickered behind her to find the redhead standing inconspicuously in the doorway. When Kuwabara said his name, his emerald eyes started in surprise; it seemed as though he had been watching the bed the entire time.

He didn't say anything, but quickly slipped back into the main room. Genkai followed him with her gaze and Kazuma evidently appeared confused. Sighing, the elderly woman headed into the main room as well without another word to Kuwabara.

She found him leaning against the open balcony—but how he had gotten there so quickly was beyond her. She also assumed that he sensed her presence in the room, but he made no move to acknowledge her.

Genkai now stood next to him on the balcony and stared out over the island.

Her eyes quickly flickered towards his hands where he restlessly fiddled with the stem of a rose. As she continued to watch him however, she also noticed his hands shaking slightly.

The older woman sighed and folded her hands behind her back, "You knew this would happen eventually…"

He didn't answer her.

She continued anyway; "Deep down, either in your heart—or something else," she added quickly, "You knew that no matter what you tried to do, you couldn't stop the inevitable."

Still he didn't answer.

Genkai switched her gaze from Kurama to the wide expanse in front of her, but she didn't continue on for awhile. When enough tension had filled between them to cut through steel, she sighed again and glanced back into the hotel room.

"We all knew…" she said quietly, "…Even if they didn't know it themselves…"

She noticed his hand wrap tightly around the thorns of the rose—enough so that she also noticed a trickle of blood seep through his fingers.

Kurama hung his head over the railing and his eyes became hooded, "…Someone…someone very wise once told me that you can never change someone else's feelings…" he said coldly, "I thought that maybe it wouldn't have to come to that for me…"

Genkai studied him carefully, "…But you can't deny the inevitable…you knew this was bound to happen…"

He sighed and lifted his head…

Only then did a single tear race down his cheek and gently stir the rose in his hand.

He stared at it almost blankly before he sighed again, gently letting the flower slip through his fingers.

As it fluttered towards the ground, a second tear dropped onto his hand.

"I just have to let go…" he whispered.

-:-

a/n: T.T I'M SORRY KURAMA-KUN!

:sniffle: AND I'M SORRY TO ALL YOU KURAMA/MAI FANS! Just like Kurama, you knew it was bound to happen—and I'm sorry! DON'T HURT ME!

Anyway, this is probably one of the quickest updates I've had in awhile (probably cuz it's so short…)

Once again, I'M SORRY!

Ciao!


	29. Goodbyes

DISCLAIMER: I don't own YYH or any lyrics that I may use. But Mai and all my original character and tweaks to the story _are_ mine.

a/n: Kitkat: I'm so sorry Kurama-kun! I didn't mean to make you cry!

Kurama: T.T I feel so degraded…and lonely…

Kitkat: ……..Will a cookie make it feel better?

Kurama: . . . . . . . .Will it be chocolate chip?

Kitkat: SURE!

LoL, anyway (can you tell I was bored and/or feeling random?) the last chapter was a little short…and sad—

Along with this chapter (although it won't necessarily be short since I'm cramming two episodes into one chapter…) Wow, I'm rambling…but I was just at a friends house working on a school project and she gets me really hyper some how…

Anyways! Cookies to my reviewers!

XxXHellzFireAngelXxX: I'm sorry! If it makes you feel any better, Kurama wasn't too happy with me either…

Umeko Saito: Gomen ne! I'm sorry! A lot of people weren't very happy with me :nervous laugh:

Little Sakura 87: YOU BET YOUR BOTTOM DOLLAR I'M HAVING A SEQUEL! And I rewrote a lot of FFI so there's some major foreshadowing in there (:cough: especially chapter 8 :cough:) Hehe, but I forgot about Kurama too for a little bit (and the weird thing is I'll probably have him in the story more now than I did before…I'm so inconsistent T.T)

Black Spell: I hope I'm not sounding mean or anything, but I think I'm just going to have too much stuff going on in the rest of the story that I won't be able to fit in an extra character T.T Gomen ne!

Sarah1281:shakes head: it's so sad…anyway, but you should probably start writing your reviews earlier in Com Arts, LoL

Shadowkitsune7: AWWWW! T.T thank you so much! I always thought there weren't enough Yusuke/OC pairings too (don't get me wrong though, I don't hate Keiko or anything, I just like some originality sometimes)

Fangimation: Um…no offense, but if you're _that_ upset about it, you don't _have _to read this story…(and about the Hywein thing—I have no clue what you're talking about (if it's about the name 'Hywein' it's simply a coincidence because I was looking at a website and saw the Japanese name for 'hope' and liked it—not to mention that my friend's name is Hope (so she discovered 'Hywein' for me awhile ago)) And if you're going to just yell at me in your reviews, I'd prefer it if you just didn't bother reviewing at all.

_Thoughts_

_Forever Fornever II_

:Goodbyes:

Mai shifted slightly and her brow furrowed, "…Urameshi…you ass…" she mumbled in her sleep. Her fingers laced weakly between the detective's as her head turned the opposite direction.

Kuwabara quirked an eyebrow curiously at her before he scratched the back of his neck, "Wow, even when she's sleeping, she's still able to find some insult for Urameshi…" he mused aloud while Puu purred happily in the crook of the redhead's arm.

Across the room from him, Genkai said nothing; her eyes never left the sleeping pair and appeared deep in thought. She remained in the doorframe, still and unmoving. Her eyes seemed hooded after a moment…but if anyone could see beyond that veil, they would find a pair of sad, old eyes…

"…_protect each other, you two_…"

The redhead glanced up, "What was that, Genkai?" he wondered, but the older woman didn't reply as she turned her back towards him and started to make her way back into the main room.

She stopped before she had gotten too far and placed her hand on the frame of the door. She turned back towards Kazuma and glanced once more at the two sleeping teens.

"I have to go somewhere, Kuwabara…" she told him quietly, "…And when those two wake up…

"They're not to come after me…."

-:-

Kurama furrowed his brow inquisitively at the arena far below him where team Gorenja and team Toguro were facing off. But despite himself…he found his mind wandering elsewhere…

The announcer said something through the microphone, but he didn't catch it; a fighter from either side of the ring stepped forward onto the platform and Juri moved to stand between them. To anyone else, it would have seemed that Kurama was intent on watching the fight, but the akage was far from that; his emerald eyes were distant and deep in thought.

And for the briefest instant, they suddenly flickered gold.

He started and quickly shook his head; running his fingers through his hair. Kurama paused a moment, as if waiting for it to happen again, but when it didn't he sighed heavily and stared down at his hands.

…Not that it would have been much of a _bad_ thing if he changed…he decided grimly as his eyes found their way back towards the arena; even before he had seen any of team Toguro's fights, he had known that he would be no match for them in his human form…

And he never would be…

Juri raised her hand above her head, "The first match: Midorenja from team Gorenja and Karasu from team Toguro! Fighters ready? BEGIN!"

The one fighter, Karasu, did nothing but simply stand waiting for an attack. Midorenja however, leapt immediately into position and his spirit energy began to shroud the arena in a thick mist. Audience members howled in disgust as a god awful stench filled the stadium.

But as his energy swirled around him, a glowing green orb began to form between his hands. He drew it behind him as if getting reading to pitch a baseball, and hurled it across the stage at his opponent.

Karasu merely watched the attack approach before he peacefully stepped to the side and out of its way.

Angered, team Gorenja's fighter held out his hands once again to create another orb. But across from him, Karasu calmly began walking towards his enemy. Midorenja hurled it once again towards the raven-haired fighter—only to find with a start that he was no longer in front of him.

As Midorenja was trying to discover the whereabouts of his opponents, the audience watched as Karasu hovered above him. He leapt over the fighter and, halfway through his jump, placed his hand along the demon's shoulder.

There was a moment when some of the audience members didn't realize what was happening…but when a blast erupted from the arena and a howl of pain was heard, it became rather clear.

The weaker apparition knelt on the floor of the ring, cradling the stump of his arm (or rather shoulder). But even before Karasu had landed back on the arena, there was a second explosion and Midorenja screamed in agony as his remaining arm was blown off.

He stared horrified at team Toguro's fighter before he staggered clumsily to his feet and dashed the opposite direction towards his teammates; hoping that he would make it into safety—

But that hope was soon shattered when a final blast went off where Midorenja was standing. By the time it had cleared, all that remained of the apparition was a shadow of smoldering ash and a crater to hold it.

Juri appeared to be in shock for only a moment before she shook her head and raised her microphone, "Alright everyone! The winner of this match: Karasu!"

Uncertain cheers came from the audience (as they were trying to decide if his power was a good or bad thing) and Kurama narrowed his eyes a second time.

'_You two would be smart to watch Toguro's fights…' the old woman informed the two apparitions seriously, 'You'll both need to win…and at least if you die, you'll know what you're up against…'_

The redhead sighed heavily; Hiei might have been wiser to disobey Genkai; knowing what they were up against only seemed to make him more and more restless…

-:-

Kuwabara blinked suddenly when a glint caught his eye. He stood up slowly from his seat next to the window and made his way next to the bedside as his curiosity got the better of him.

As he leaned over the bed, he realized that the sunlight was reflecting off of something around Yusuke's neck.

He frowned; _since when does Urameshi wear jewelry?_

The redhead cocked an eyebrow as he leaned in for a better look. It was then that he noticed it was a glass vial along a silver chain with—what appeared to be—a piece of paper inside. _Now_ he was intent on figuring out what it was…

So cautiously, he reached out with his hand towards the vial—

But before he had even gotten within an inch of the bottle, he was thrown back suddenly by the detective's fist. He cried out in surprise as he tumbled backwards onto the bedroom floor. Kazuma had to shake his head a few times before he had finally recovered and he glared—rather peeved—back at Yusuke.

"I just don't get it…" he grumbled, "He's even able to beat me up in his sleep!"

-:-

The cyclops Kirenja carefully unsheathed the giant sword along his back; keeping his eye locked on his opponent at all times.

Team Toguro's fighter however, held out his hand before him. Pulsars of energy formed between his fingers until a massive axe appeared in his hand. The weight from the weapon was so heavy that it caused the apparition's feet to sink deep into the tile flooring beneath him.

In front of him, Kirenja watched the fighter uncertainly as he shifted to and fro across the stage; unsure of how to attack. It then occurred to him that with an axe that size, Bui would be unable to attack him at close range. With this though occurring to him, he smirked and steadily moved closer towards the apparition.

But in an instant, he leapt—with an impressive amount of speed—at his opponent.

Unfortunately, Bui began to spin the axe with as much (if not more) speed than Kirenja. The blade whipped around until it had sliced through the cyclops; sending bits and pieces of his body splattering over the arena floor.

Cheers erupted from the stadium at finally seeing some blood and gore. Juri—happy with the fight herself—hopped to the center of the ring once again.

"Winner of this match: Bui from team Toguro! Leaving just three members left on team Gorenja's side—!"

She suddenly cut herself off when she noticed that the elder Toguro was standing on the ring as well.

"Well let's save ourselves some time…" he said calmly with his hand inside of one of his pockets, "I'll take on the rest of their team at once…"

The remaining three members of team Gorenja gritted their teeth, but obliged nonetheless.

As all four apparitions stood on the stage, Juri went to announce the fight yet again: "Alright folks! It looks like elder Toguro from team Toguro against the rest of team Gorenja! BEGIN!"

Immediately, the fighters of team Gorenja took off into the air; leaping around the Toguro brother so quickly that they were merely blurs. The single fighter however, remained calm as he stood in the center of the ring and watched the other team with a cruel smirk.

They appeared to be forming into a pattern in front of him and orbs of energy began to form around their hands. Team Gorenja leapt into the air in unison; preparing for their attack and closing in on Toguro.

But it was if death itself swept a hand across the stadium as a death-like silence filled the air. The members of team Gorenja remained hovering in the air above the ring; expressions of pure shock and terror etched along their faces.

Spear-like poles impaled the trio. The two males were struck in their abdomen and shoulders while the woman was unfortunate enough to have been attacked directly at her skull. The spikes—detaching themselves from the elder Toguro brother—had enveloped the arena; making it impossible for any of them to escape unscathed.

Toguro smirked and ruthlessly ripped the spears from their bodies. The female member crashed lifelessly to the ground while the other two panted heavily.

He watched the fighters coldly, yet not without a hint of amusement in his eyes, "It's truly a miracle that both of you are still alive…" he mused, "So I'll be happy to spare one of your lives. Now…which one of you wants it more…?"

The leader of team Gorenja gritted his teeth as he held onto his abdomen, "Heh, you have no choice but to kill both of us…or else one day we'll get stronger and come back to kill you…"

But the other seemed horrified, "No! Don't listen to him—he speaks only for himself! Spare me, I beg of you!"

The elder Toguro paused for only a moment before a cruel grin made its way to his lips and he raised his hand out in front of him. Instantly, the tendrils of his fingers lashed out at the second team member; drilling straight into his skull.

Still smirking, he turned back to the leader of team Gorenja, "It's interesting…Bui and Karasu said the same thing when my brother and I beat them down…Maybe you should join us, just as they did?" he glanced down carelessly at his bloody fingertips and observed them quietly, "Neither of them have any loyalties to confuse them and their desire to kill my brother and I keeps them motivated to improve…"

Gorenja's leader seemed intrigued by the offer and was intent on listening to the Toguro brother's words…

However, the apparition's expression darkened without warning.

With that, his finger extended and drilled itself into the leader's skull. His eyes went wide as Toguro withdrew his limb, but he quickly crumpled afterwards.

He rested his hand on his hip, "Hmph…Then again, I never really liked keeping my promises…."

-:-

Genkai was momentarily blinded by the sunlight that enveloped the clearing. But she did not hesitate until she had made it a good distance into the area…There she stopped and her eyes locked onto the figure in front of her; waiting patiently beneath the sunlight.

At her approach, Toguro slowly turned to face the elder woman. His eyes smirked beneath his sunglasses and the older woman narrowed her eyes towards him.

"We've both been waiting a long time for this, haven't we?"

-:-

Kurama sighed heavily as he ran his fingers through his hair restlessly. The halls were silent all save for his own quiet footsteps…

There was no way in heaven or hell that he would stand a chance against the Toguro team in the form he was in now…If he couldn't find some way to convert back into Youko he was as good as dead for the next match—

But how? He had only been able to change the first time because of the Idunn Box Uraurishima had used on him earlier…but now he had nothing that would cause him to take the transformation…

Suddenly, his emerald eyes shot up.

In front of him, both Bui and Karasu calmly stood waiting.

The redhead instinctively took up a fighting stance, but he could tell that neither of the fighters before him was planning on a battle.

"I suppose the rest of your teammates were too afraid to come with you to watch the match…" Karasu mused from beneath his mask, "Although it doesn't quite matter…the finals will come, Kurama, and the five you will all die…"

He gritted his teeth and frowned uncertainly, "Why just five?" he demanded to know.

The raven-haired fighter smirked from beneath his visor, "Because…one of you will die today…"

Kurama started abruptly when Karasu disappeared from his view. Not only that, but he couldn't sense him either…

But before he could comprehend his whereabouts, he suddenly went rigid. The redhead felt Karasu's cold fingers around his neck; toying mockingly with strands of his hair and caressing the skin of his neck. He felt the apparition's face dangerously close to his, as well as his quiet breathing.

"I know you fear what my touch could do to you…" he said softly and traced the lines of the akage's neck while a shiver raced down Kurama's spine, "And yet…maybe you want to know it…"

He stood paralyzed as a smirk formed in the raven-haired fighter's eyes.

"Or maybe…" he whispered close to his ear, "It's the touch of a certain _youkai_ girl you want to know…"

Without warning, Kurama snapped. He gritted his teeth and whirled on the apparition, but Karasu easily leapt back out of his reach and landed back next to Bui. The demon was frowning however; had he not just seen a flash of gold in his eyes…?

But his frown quickly disappeared from sight and was replaced by another smirk, "As a fighter I like you the best Kurama. And when I like something…I like to take it away…" his smirk grew and the redhead felt another shiver race down his spine, "Though I must admit that it would have been interesting to…_play_ with that girl and see how much pain she could endure. She had such a pretty scream from her fight earlier; making her sing might have been quite enjoyable…"

Kurama furiously gritted his teeth and his fists clenched at his side, "You will not lay a hand on her…" he growled menacingly, "I will personally make sure of that…"

The raven-haired fighter smirked a final time before turning his back on the redhead; his cloak whipping out behind him.

"If you say so, Kurama…"

-:-

Toguro carefully discarded his forest-green coat along the ground, but his eyes remained curiously on the older woman before him. After a moment he smirked, "It's strange, really…" he mused, "You've gotten so old over the years…"

Genkai's eyes narrowed further in disgust, "You haven't changed at all…"

His expression didn't change, but he was silent for a moment. The apparition turned his back on her slightly and stared up towards the treetops while Genkai waited wordlessly for him to continue on with his little speech.

"…You used to be beautiful, Genkai…" he said quietly, "And for awhile it was your face that I looked on to feel at ease…"

The wind blew eerily through the clearing as a silence swept over them. When Toguro turned back towards the old woman, he was grinning once again.

"I wonder…why is it that you hid beneath a mask?" he asked her, "Surely it wasn't because of your old age…?"

Her frown deepened and she snorted, "I preferred to remain anonymous rather than have several hundred demons who want my head on their wall stalking me…"

The Toguro brother chuckled in amusement as he continued to watch the elderly woman. His smirk widened when something occurred to him, "You're much weaker than I remember…"

She narrowed her eyes and shifted subtly into a fighting stance, "Then you should know all my power is with Yusuke now…" she informed him and the apparition grinned in anticipation.

Toguro locked his fists at his side; his eyes never leaving the old woman before him.

"…Then it's time Genkai…to end this chapter in our lives…"

And with that, a colossal burst of energy erupted through the clearing.

-:-

Mai's head shot up. The guardian's eyes darted quickly around the room as she swiftly lifted herself off of the bed. Something had caused her to wake up…and whatever it had been, she knew it wasn't anything good…

She turned her head back towards the bedside when she heard the detective moving. He too raised himself off the bed and glanced determinedly around the room.

"Did you feel it too?" he asked softly when he noticed the guardian.

Nodding, she was about to speak when Kuwabara entered the room.

"It's about time the two of you woke up!" he told them heatedly, "I was beginning to think that you would sleep through the finals too—!"

"Where's Genkai?" Yusuke cut him off gravely.

The redhead hesitated a moment, "Oh no you don't, Urameshi! She didn't want either of you going after her—!"

Even before he could finish, the detective had jumped out of the bed. And grabbing Mai by the wrist, raced hurriedly out of the hotel room. Kazuma heard the main door swing open and slam shut so hard that it nearly caused the room to shake.

Yusuke did not have to urge the guardian any faster; like the detective, she was running as fast as she possibly could—despite her lack in strength.

"Dammit, what was that old hag thinking?" Urameshi muttered furiously, "She'll kill herself!"

Mai kept her mouth shut when a thought occurred to her…

…Maybe…that had been Genkai's plan all along…

She shook her head furiously, _please Master Genkai…DON'T DO THIS!_

-:-

The muscles along Toguro's body doubled in size as an enormous, demonic aura began to surround the clearing. The earth shook beneath the two fighters and rubble even began throwing itself into the air around him. There were shots of crimson energy that erupted from his body and crackled around his skin.

Genkai stood in a fighter's stance; waiting with her hands at her side in anticipation. An orb of blue light began to form around one of her hands as she narrowed her eyes.

She couldn't mess this up…she only had about three shots left in her…

Across from her, the apparition smirked malevolently, "Watch closely, Genkai…you will soon see the power you too could have had…"

Something passed over the old woman's eyes; whether it was sorrow or pity, it moved on before it could have been deciphered. For a brief moment, she glanced sadly down at the ground before her and sighed heavily.

"What a silly little girl I was, thinking you would change..." she said quietly. But after a hesitation, she lifted her head once more; her eyes glaring at Toguro, "…but I should have known how you would turn out. You had it written in ugly black letters all across your soul."

Despite the anger in her words however…the tone of her voice was far from it…

In fact, it almost seemed sad…

-:-

"_Gaah!"_

_The young woman straightened and watched calmly as the demon came flying through the air towards her. When she deemed him close enough, she withdrew her fist to her side and then quickly landed a punch straight into his gut, sending him flying backwards._

_A small smile of satisfaction formed at her lips…but she blinked suddenly and turned around. She found herself facing an ogre-like demon that appeared to be a great deal taller than herself. It grinned down at her, but she only frowned._

_Nimbly, the young woman leapt into the air high above him and landed right on top of his head. The demon seemed confused for only a moment, but after that he began to swipe desperately at her and knock her off. But unfortunately, his thick arms prevented him from doing so (not to mention the fact that the young woman was easily able to hop out of his reach)._

_She smirked down at him for only a moment before she suddenly jumped off of his head. Once again, the oni was confused—_

_Until without warning, a man suddenly charged towards him; drilling his fist right into the demon's stomach._

_As the apparition flew backwards, the young woman landed next to her partner and smiled warmly up at him._

_-:-_

"…_Aren't you ever afraid of it, Genkai…?"_

_The young woman glanced up wearily with her head resting in her palm, "Of what?" she wondered._

_Toguro released his hold on the oars and placed his hands in his lap while his elbow leaned against his knee. His eyes wandered across the silent lake around them and came to rest on a crane feeding on a frog._

"_Of getting weaker…" he continued deep in thought, "…Of getting old…"_

_He sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. Toguro paused a moment as his expression grew stern._

"…_My worst fear…is that when I get old someone weak will kill me…"_

_Genkai continued to watch him, confused. It was then however, that she noticed his hands balling up into fists. She blinked in bewilderment and watched as the lines along his face creased while he furrowed his brow._

"…_Toguro…?"_

_He frowned darkly, "I promise I won't let that happen to me—I'll find a way to get stronger and not to age…" he glanced up around the placid lake and his eyes narrowed, "It's not fair, Genkai…humans are only here just long enough to know what they want…then they erode away…"_

_The young woman paused a moment before she forced a weak smile. Carefully, she placed her hand along his arm, "We'll both age, Toguro…we'll age together, how 'bout that?"_

_But he shook his head, "I won't do it," he muttered, "Growing old means growing weak—and I won't let that happen!"_

_Genkai stared at him hurtfully as he ripped his arm away from her touch. Her eyes looked upon him with pity as she slowly shook her own head._

"…_Toguro…"_

-:-

"You really were just a selfish bastard…" Genkai told the apparition before her.

But Toguro merely smirked; his energy swaying about him in a red haze, "The way I see it, you didn't have the guts to acquire everything you wanted…while on the other hand…_I_ was!"

Storm clouds began to gather above them as the apparition continued to gather in his power. A fierce wind whipped through the clearing and bent the trees surrounding them. The older woman gritted her teeth and stretched her arm out at her side where a blue orb began to pulse around hand.

Without giving him a chance to completely power-up, Genkai lunged herself at the demon. Toguro made no move to avoid her attack and took a direct hit to his shoulder. But without giving her a warning, he suddenly swiped out at the elderly woman.

Genkai jumped clumsily out of the way of his blow. As she landed back on the ground, she began to pant heavily while beads of sweat formed along her brow.

The apparition smirked, "At least you've improved on your dodging—since that attack was meant to remove your heart…"

He glanced down carelessly at his shoulder where there was a gaping space left from the old woman's attack. Blood dripped from the wound, but he didn't seem to care. And giving it a final glance, he turned back to Genkai and smirked again.

"You should see how well the committee made my body…" he told her casually. And as he turned his head back towards the wound, the flesh around his shoulder began to morph and almost instantly healed over the gash.

But he was not finished. Clenching his fists at his side, the power around him began to rise drastically, even causing the earth beneath them to tremble as a hazy red aura swirled around the demon.

"Mark my words, Genkai…I _DO_ PLAN TO KILL YOU!"

-:-

Hiei froze suddenly midway through bandaging his arm.

His eyes widened in horror as a disturbing chill raced down his spine…

-:-

Kurama stopped in his tracks and nearly staggered backwards. His eyes quickly darted towards the darkening sky.

A sense of foreboding filled within him as he gazed into the trees around him.

"…What…is that…?"

-:-

A fierce chill charged through Kuwabara's body. His eyes widened and went to the sky filling with clouds. Moving towards the window, he peered outside to where an enormous amount of energy was building up.

"What the hell is that?"

-:-

Both Mai and Yusuke stopped in their tracks. A blast of wind rushed past them and seemed to carry with it the very essence of the dark aura filling the air. The energy was so thick that it was almost suffocating and the guardian's eyes went wide in horror.

She suddenly felt sick and her hand covered her mouth.

"Oh God…" she whispered, horrified, as she furiously shook her head, "Oh God, oh God…"

Urameshi gritted his teeth and his head snapped in the direction of the energy, "Dammit!" he growled. He clasped onto Mai's wrist again, "Come on! This can't be over yet!"

But as she ran with him, the guardian couldn't help but feel tears filling her eyes.

This power was so immense; as if there were no end to it…

As if it could crush them with its very presence…

And this…this was the power that Yusuke would be facing very soon…

-:-

Toguro smirked and his eyes glinted maliciously beneath his sunglasses. The energy pulsing around him caused the air to shudder in fear; its red glow swirling eerily around the demon and whipping as though it were a flame.

"Demon energy may not always be stronger than spirit energy…" he informed her calmly, "But I personally think its much more fun to use."

The old woman started in surprise when the apparition completely vanished from her line of sight.

But at the very last possible moment, her sense picked up his presence. She was able to leap out of the way just as Toguro's fist came crashing down on the exact spot she had just been standing in.

Rubble exploded into the air. A blast of energy shook the earth with his mighty punch. The ground beneath him quivered before it began to crumble beneath the attack's power. And as the debris scattered into the air, a giant crater expanded around the demon.

And before Genkai landed back on the ground, she swiftly raised her hands in front of her. The older woman let a blast explode from her hands and sent charging straight towards Toguro.

He smirked when he saw the attack coming. Raising only one hand, he stopped the blast and crushed it in his fist. The elderly woman gritted her teeth when she landed; seeing that the only damage that he had taken was from the minor burns that scorched his hands.

Toguro smirked, "Truly, my strength is absolute…" a dark chuckle escaped him, "It's an amusing thought to remember that you used to be my equal in strength…"

He lowered his arms and his eyes narrowed towards the old woman.

"Demons want you dead, Genkai, not because of the fights you have won…but because you gave up the chance to be great…"

With that, his stance changed for a final time. His fists clenched at his side and continued to watch Genkai standing before him.

The Toguro brother's aura pulsed more fiercely.

"I hope you're happy with the way you wasted your life, Genkai…"

She changed her stance as well…But her eyes seemed to fill with a sad sort of pity as she stared at Toguro, "I only have regret…" she told him quietly, "…that my spirit wave could not cure your madness…"

The demon smirked malevolently, but made no further remark. The earth around him began to tremble as the fierce red aura pounded in the air.

And in one swift motion he suddenly charged towards the old woman…

Genkai forced her hands out in front of her; creating a barrier around her small form.

But as Toguro approached, she hung her head sadly while a single tear raced down the side of her face.

_I'm sorry, Yusuke…_

-:-

Koenma suddenly looked up and through the window next to him. He was still for a long time as his eyes slowly narrowed.

A flash of lightning crossed the sky outside.

Silence enveloped the room as the demigod lowered his head and sighed.

-:-

Puu flailed restlessly in Keiko's arms. The brunette sighed almost in exasperation and absently glanced around the room. She blinked however, when she caught sight of the window.

"…Botan…?"

The ferry girl remained silent; her eyes never moving nor blinking. She seemed stunned and in complete shock…

-:-

The detective suddenly came to a halt. Storm clouds swirled around him and a wind swept past the pair…

But neither of them stirred.

Mai's eyes grew wide in pure horror. They shimmered with the tears that were cascading down her face…and a hand covered her mouth to keep her from crying out in despair.

It was a moment before the sight before them sunk in. By that time, Urameshi was slowly shaking his head in denial, "…No…"

The guardian clenched her eyes shut against the image passing before her vision…but nonetheless, the tears continued to stream down her face. It wasn't happening…this wasn't happening; it was just someone's sick joke, right?

…This was just a joke…

Toguro smirked and glanced carelessly at his bloodied hand, "…Even with the final attack of her life, she didn't even scratch my body…" he informed them soullessly.

Mai couldn't take it any longer and raced across the clearing.

"Master Genkai!"

She slid into the pool of blood surrounding the old woman before kneeling beside her body. Yusuke raced after her while the guardian carefully lifted Genkai's head into her lap. Tears continued to fill her eyes as she cradled the old woman's body in her hands.

"Hey…old hag, come on wake up…" Yusuke called to her weakly.

"…Master Genkai…?"

The elderly woman stirred and her eyes opened dimly. Noticing the pair, she forced a weak smile, "I thought Kuwabara was supposed to keep you two back at the hotel…Can't trust that boy with shit, can I?"

She sighed heavily and her eyes closed, but she was still breathing…only barely however.

"…Don't think this is much of a surprise to me, Urameshi…" she continued softly, "…I knew I had to die eventually…especially at this damn tournament…"

Yusuke gritted his teeth, "You idiot…" he reprimanded halfheartedly.

She let out a short laugh, "Shut up, dimwit…" the old woman sighed again and her eyes moved upwards so that she could see the guardian above her, "…You keep him under-wraps, understand?"

But the guardian shook her head, "Stop it, Genkai…"

The elder woman laughed weakly, "What? Did you think that an old hag like me would live forever…?" she trailed off and her smile faded; her eyes lingering despondently on the guardian, "…We all have to die sometime…"

She slowly shook her head, "But…listen to me, you two…" she began wheezing quietly now, "…We were teammates, Toguro and I…and we won the last tournament…" her eyes became sad as she stared up at the sky floating above her, "And for his prize…he wanted to become a demon with strength and absolute power…

"…Everyone has to fight with time to find their place before their inevitable death. Toguro, he ran away from that fight. Don't you ever do the same, you son of a bitch...No human is ever a one man show. Every decision that you make will affect the countless people who care about you," instantaneously, her eyes flickered towards the guardian above her before returning slowly to Yusuke, "Do you understand? You can't be a cocky kid anymore" she winced painfully, "…You…you have to. . ."

There was an eerie wind that blew through the clearing…

But there was nothing for it to stir except for the death-like silence enveloping them…

Yusuke shook his head and forced a smile of defiance, "Heh…come on, you old hag—this is a joke, right? God, your jokes really suck, you old bitch…"

The guardian shuddered and covered her mouth. She clenched her eyes shut furiously…

_Wake up, Genkai…come on, please wake up…_

"…Genkai…"

Toguro smirked, "Genkai died a long time ago…" he said darkly, "A fighter has two choices: to die or get stronger…and she chose to die…"

Mai shook her head, _Please…don't leave us…DON'T LEAVE US HERE, GENKAI!_

Urameshi hooded his gaze and clenched his fists. Slowly, he rose to his feet and turned to face the apparition standing at the center of the clearing…

"You don't get it, do you…?" he muttered, "…You just don't have a clue…"

His head abruptly shot up. Toguro truly appeared surprise to see the rage burning in his eyes. And without warning, Yusuke disappeared from view.

The apparition turned swiftly just as the detective reappeared in front of him. Urameshi threw a punch at his face furiously, but Toguro easily caught the attack in his hand. He gritted his teeth wrathfully and even his eyes seemed to be aflame with his anger.

Smirking, he brought his other hand around and smashed his fist with the side of Yusuke's head.

Instantly, he was sent flying backwards and collided with a tree nearby. The detective slumped effortlessly to the ground with his head lolling to the side…

Toguro glanced down at his hand and frowned slightly. The area of his palm was severely scorched and the burn marks even made their way up along his arm.

"Impressive, Urameshi…" he told the detective and frowned again, "But too bad your heart wasn't in it…"

His gaze flickered quickly towards the guardian still cradling Genkai's lifeless body. Her violet eyes were wide as she watched Yusuke lying still against the trunk of the tree. She snapped her head to the side when she sensed the demon watching her and her eyes grew cold and hard…

He smirked as he turned his back towards her and calmly left the clearing…

_But next time…when I'm able to use one-hundred percent of my power…_

_I'll make sure your heart is in it…_

Yusuke groaned quietly as he tried to open his eyes. His vision was blurry and his head began to swirl…

But he was just able to make out the hazy form of Mai and the inert old woman in her arms. The guardian was sobbing now as she bent over Genkai's body; hugging the bleeding corpse tightly to her chest as if she were afraid to let her go…

It was like a dream…

…Like some horrible, ugly dream…With the guardian drenched in their teacher's blood and storm clouds gathering above them, it didn't seem real at all…

Urameshi clenched his fists as tears furiously began to fill his eyes.

'_Every decision that you make will affect the countless people who care about you…'_

He slammed his fist into the ground and gritted his teeth. There was a tear that rolled down his cheek and dropped onto his clenched hand.

"…Dammit, you old hag…"

'_You can't be a cocky kid anymore…'_

_I couldn't do anything…_he thought darkly to himself, _why couldn't I help her? Why was I so useless?_

Without warning, he suddenly jumped to his feet. Urameshi whirled on the tree behind him; slamming his fist into its trunk furiously until the bark began to crack.

He wasn't going to let her death go to waste…

And he sure as hell would never forgive Toguro for what he did—

The tree suddenly snapped beneath one of his punches. It creaked wearily before crashing to the forest floor behind it. Yusuke stood, hunched over and breathing heavily. His head was bowed towards the earth while beads of sweat dropped to the ground.

Until he suddenly flung back his head towards the sky above him. The storm clouds rumbled and abruptly opened up to their tears; pouring down around them…

…As if it too were mourning their loss…

…as if those clouds were crying for them…

He stood there, defeated, as the rain washed over him; the sky's tears drenching his face. Yusuke clenched his fists at his side and glared up into the stormy heavens.

"GENKAI!"

-:-

a/n: well I think I'll just end it there…

And if you didn't think that Mai and Yusuke were in there enough, both of them should be appearing a lot more frequently now…

T.T WAAAAAAAAH! This is probably my last chapter I'll get to post before school ends! (though I'm not quite sure why I'm sad about that…hm…) But after the summer, it's on to high school! YAY!

Crap. But I have to do that summer reading thing…

Double crap.

Anyway, I'm getting a wee bit hungry now, so I think I better go get a snack—come along Kurama-kun! We'll get you that cookie of yours!

Kurama: YAY!

Peace and Luv everyone!


	30. Overcoming Grief

DISCLAIMER: I don't own YYH or any of it's characters. But my original characters—_and_ twists to the storyline are mine.

a/n: hmm…I'm sleepy…

Well guess what everyone? I'm bored out of my mind and it's only the first day of summer…

Heh, this is gonna suck (at least I'll have time then for that summer reading crap…)

Anyway—cookies to my reviewers!

XxXHellzFireAngelXxX: Heh-heh…um about that…

Umeko Saito: AWWWWWW! Thank you so much:glomps: Well, I'm glad you didn't mind that Kurama cried (I was kind of surprised…I mean, guys cry too don't they? LoL)

Sarah1281: Holy crap…I can't believe you actually wrote that…Hehe, but it's still funny! And the scary thing is, I can almost see Kurama doing that…weird…(Kurama: now I feel silly (LoL))

Little Sakura 87: Hehe, yup! I can't wait though to get started on the next one! (much plot twists and complications! YAY! I think…) T.T but it was sad that Genkai died! But we all know how the season ends, right?

Shadowkitsune7: Hey, well the good news is—SCHOOL'S ALREADY OVER! Haha, at least for me that is…so here's another chapter!

_Thoughts_

_Forever Fornever II_

:Overcoming Grief:

A gust of wind moaned through the cave in front of the detective. The breeze rustled his clothing, but he did not stir. He sat cross-legged before the tunnel and did nothing but stare down at his hands forlornly. To anyone else, he might as well just have been a statue sitting in the center of the clearing.

Behind him, Mai leaned up heavily against a nearby tree; her hand braced against it to keep her standing. Her violet-speckled eyes remained on the detective worriedly. She was almost tempted to go and slap him upside the head and hope to get him out of that trance…

But something told her that Yusuke would have to come out of this on his own.

The guardian winced suddenly when she glanced down at her hands for the briefest moment. Her fingers curled into her bloody palm slowly as her eyes trailed down to her other hand drenched in blood…

…Genkai's blood…

For an instant, she felt like she was going to be sick. She covered her mouth with her hands—but when she realized what she was doing, she quickly dropped her arms to her side and closed her eyes forcefully.

_Why…? Dammit, you knew this would happen…_

She knew she would die…

'_We all have to die sometime…'_

But she was supposed to die of old age! Not by some insane apparition who supposedly loved her fifty years ago—and not during a time when they needed her the most! It just wasn't fair—!

"Heh…" the detective suddenly let out a hollow laugh, "…remember how happy she was, Mai…? I finished that test…and she seemed…she seemed really happy…"

She noticed his expression darken, "But…I…I _killed_ her…" he whispered harshly, "…If Genkai had her power, she would have been able to fight off Toguro. But she didn't—she gave it to me like the old bitch she was…so I killed her…"

The guardian watched him sadly, "…Yusuke…"

But Urameshi had suddenly gone back into his depression and hung his head without another word. Mai watched him only a moment longer before she sighed sadly.

A single tear raced down her cheek suddenly, "…You didn't kill her, Yusuke…" she whispered too quietly for him to hear and bowed her head.

Away from them, near another cluster of trees, the blue-haired ferry-girl emerged abruptly. She paused when she caught sight of the pair hovering around the cavern entrance, but it was then also that she noticed the demigod standing not too far away…

She moved beside him, "…So this is where they've been…" she said quietly. For a moment she was silent, as if waiting for Koenma to say something—but suddenly she shook her head, "Please, Koenma sir, isn't there any way we can reverse this?"

But even before all the words had left her mouth, the toddler had started shaking his head. Botan cut herself off as he sighed.

"…Genkai has already passed down all her powers…" he told her quietly, "…It was their destiny what happened—"

"What about Kira?" she interrupted, "We were able to find another body for her—we can simply use Genkai's to—!"

He shook his head firmly now and sighed again

"…It's over Botan…"

-:-

Hiei frowned suddenly as he began passing a clearing. His eyes narrowed darkly when the scent of death and blood filled his nose.

The apparition averted his course—but had hardly stepped into the area before he had to stop at the edge of a giant crater. His eyes widened as he stared across the vast basin…but it didn't take a genius to realize what kind of creature had created this hollow…

He paused a moment and stared down at his fist.

In an instant, he had disappeared into the air. He dived rapidly towards the earth and cried out as his energy skyrocketed around him. And only a second later, his fist made contact with the ground beneath him. Rubble flew up into the air while the apparition continued to dive further into the earth.

By the time his attack had finished, debris was still falling down around him. The demon panted for a moment before he was able to recover. By that time, he was already making his way out of his own crater.

But the instant he had reached the surface, his eyes narrowed even further. Furiously, he whipped his head between the two basins…

Only to find that Toguro's greatly outsized his own.

Hiei's fingers dug into his palm angrily. He was almost ready to disappear back into the trees a second time…but something stopped him.

His eyes flickered briefly off to his side. The apparition frowned slightly and moved towards where a deep-red pool of blood swirled nearby. From there, as he looked further, smaller droplets of blood led away from the scene through another grouping of trees.

The demon sniffed the air quickly; his eyes narrowed. He was able sense the onna and the baka tantei in that direction…but this blood was not theirs…

-:-

_The raven-haired apparition smirked from beneath his mask as he stood before the akage. Kurama gritted his teeth and changed his stance._

_He suddenly charged towards Karasu—and in the same motion, swiftly withdrew his whip from within the folds of his hair. He lashed out at the apparition furiously—_

_Only to find that he was no longer there._

_Kurama's eyes grew wide—until Karasu suddenly appeared directly in front of him. He cried out suddenly as an explosion erupted in front of him, throwing him backwards at the same time. The redhead rolled along the floor and felt blood trickling along his skin. He gritted his teeth and forced himself to his knees; fervently searching for his opponent._

_But when he finally did, his heart stopped._

"_She had such a pretty scream from earlier…making her sing will be quite enjoyable…" Karasu told him villainously; suddenly holding Mai within his grasp. His pale fingers laced around her throat and he placed his head up against her cheek._

_The akage furiously shook his head, "No…NO DON'T!"_

_Karasu smirked, "…So let's sing a little song for him, shall we?"_

_And all Kurama heard was her screams of pain—_

The redhead suddenly snapped out of his hallucination and clutched his head. Beads of sweat formed along his brow as he heaved in the air around him. He panted heavily and was nearly ready to drop to his knees, but he caught himself.

He ran his hand through his hair absently.

"Damn…" he whispered quietly to himself.

It was no mystery that Karasu outmatched him…and in his human form, there was no possibly way that he would be able to take him on. He was his superior in speed, power, and games of the mind…and with that, Kurama had no chance on making out of that match alive…

He suddenly clenched his fist and his nails dug fiercely into his palm. But what he had said…what he had told him…

Kurama narrowed his eyes; there was no way in hell that he was dying without a fight—

"Hey, Kurama!"

The akage turned suddenly to find Kuwabara entering the clearing with him. It might have just been him, but Kazuma looked rather peeved…

"You haven't seen Mai or Yusuke have you?" he wondered as he approached, "Both of them ran off right after they woke up—even after I told them Genkai didn't want them following her!"

This caused Kurama to go cold.

'_...Because one of you will die today…'_

Did Kuwabara not know? He wondered uncertainly…

…And…

And had Genkai really died—?

Without warning, Kurama's head suddenly snapped to the side. Nearby, several bushes were rustling restlessly. The redhead narrowed his eyes and changed into a fighting stance defensively (along with Kazuma after he had noticed the foliage as well).

But both of them frowned however, when the intruder emerged from the bushes.

"Suzuka…?" Kurama wondered aloud, but his eyes narrowed, "What are you doing here?" he demanded.

The blonde-haired fighter folded his arms over his chest. Without the makeup or the crazy clown costume, he actually looked somewhat normal…although there were still bandages covering Genkai's 'souvenirs'…

He snorted unhappily, "My body was never meant for fighting…" he told him and frowned, "And it really sucks that all my techniques went to waste—"

"You still haven't answered our question," Kurama stopped him irritably.

Suzuka rolled his eyes, "Fine…" he sighed. He rummaged with something before drawing out a pair of items. The fighter eyed the other two seriously as he held both artifacts aloft.

For a moment he paused, but then he turned towards Kurama and held out a clear, glass jar filled with a sickly red liquid. Inside floated an oddly shaped purple object.

"This…" he began, "Is the Fruit of Previous Life. It was the same fruit that Uraurishima derived from to create the smoke of the Idunn Box…" the apparition's eyes narrowed slightly, "…With it, you will be able to revert back into Youko…"

Kurama eyed the jar inquisitively before cautiously taking it from Suzuka's hands. Then the blonde-haired demon turned towards the second redhead and held out the hilt of a sword.

"…And this is the Trial Sword…" he added to Kuwabara, "It has been carved from an ancient cedar that grew by sucking up life…For Shishiwakamaru it became the Banshee Shriek," he seemed to take humor in Kazuma's horrified reaction, "Oh, but I assure you that your sword will be much different…"

Both of them eyed the two items suspiciously…however Kurama seemed to be considering how the effects of the fruit might benefit him…

"Though…" Suzuka continued, "Even _I_ don't know exactly how they work…or for that matter what the side effects may have on the user…" he paused before he shrugged casually and turned to leave, "Well, good luck—"

Kurama narrowed his eyes, "Why would you want to help us, Suzuka?" he demanded.

He turned back around; serious again, "Oh don't get me wrong, I still dislike your team…but I hate Toguro…" his eyes narrowed angrily, "I fought him once, and that bastard only used three percent of his strength for my humiliation—then he didn't have the courtesy to kill me…"

-:-

The detective stared down absently at the palm of his hands. Even after several hours, he hadn't even moved…

He gritted his teeth as he fought back his tears of despair.

That bitch…she had known she was going to die—almost as if she _wanted _to! She didn't even want them coming after her to help…

…Was she that desperate to get herself killed?

Was she that intent on leaving them behind to fight alone in this god-forsaken tournament?

Urameshi's fist shook furiously. It wasn't fair…she shouldn't have had to be the one to fight Toguro—he had her fucking powers; dammit, it should have been him! He should have been the one to take on that bastard!

But he didn't…Genkai had…

And she had died…

…_I killed her…_

Mai suddenly switched her gaze from the detective to find Koenma calmly making his way towards them. She studied him curiously; he seemed almost _too_ calm…did he not know what had happened? Or was he just being oblivious to the facts…?

"So this is where you two have been hiding…" he started and casually glanced around the clearing, "…Seems a little gloomy to me…"

The guardian could only watch him in wonder; what the hell was he doing? Did he just not care that Genkai was _dead_?

The guardian cocked an eyebrow towards the demigod inquisitively, but he seemed intent on watching the detective in front of him…

Koenma checked the sky briefly, "…It's getting kind of late—"

"…I should have woken up sooner…" Yusuke suddenly muttered. His gaze remained hooded and he continued to stare down at the ground.

The demigod narrowed his eyes towards him unexpectedly as he tucked his hands into his pockets…

"…It makes me wonder how Genkai could pick such a moron apprentice…"

—!

Mai cried out suddenly as Urameshi whipped around with lightning-fast reflexes and gripped the toddler by the collar.

"Ah! Yusuke, STOP!" she shouted at him. The guardian raced from beneath the cover of the trees to the detective's side; grasping him firmly by the arm and trying to get him to let go of the demigod. But Urameshi refused to loosen his grip.

Koenma however, did not seem fazed by Yusuke's reaction. His eyes only narrowed further, "Genkai came here knowing she would die—and Toguro came knowing he would kill her!" he told him almost to the point of fury, "Tell me this: how were you planning on interfering with their dispute when your _mother_ wasn't even born when their conflict began?"

Urameshi gritted his teeth, "I would have killed that fucking bastard—that's how!"

"Don't flatter yourself!" the demigod responded harshly, "All you would have done was give her more grief to bear before she died! Are you willing to throw away everything for her just so she could live? She knew she was going to die, Yusuke! That's why she gave you her powers! Dammit, she died for the two of you!"

The detective gritted his teeth a final time as the trio remained frozen in time. Mai still hung onto Yusuke's arm, but by now her eyes were wide as she watched Koenma.

The toddler narrowed his eyes further, "Now, are you going to let go of me, or are we going to stand here and do the tango?"

Without warning, Urameshi let go of the demigod and fell back to the ground. He hunched his back as he hung over his hands. The guardian could have sworn that she saw several tears drop to the ground…

Koenma sighed heavily as he turned his back on the pair…

"…It makes me wonder…

"…Maybe overcoming his grief is his final test…"

-:-

"I must say…you've quite outdone yourself, Sakyo…" one of the gamblers congratulated as he sucked on the end of his cigar.

Another one of his companions nodded and let a puff of smoke drift into the air, "…You should get the usual forty trillion for being the owner of the winning team…" he continued and smiled, "That being said, what do you suppose you'll do with all that money?"

The raven-haired man smiled as well…but almost to the point where it became a smirk, "…I have a good idea of what I'll do with it…" he mused aloud and tapped his fingers together, "…I plan to make a tunnel…a tunnel that will connect the demon world with the living word. Unfortunately, these tunnels are very expensive to build—and right now there are only a few lower-class demons that are able to sneak their way through…"

He paused a moment, as if thinking over his plans, "Even though I've won a lot of money…I'm afraid it's not enough combined with Tarukane's fortune; the _real_ money, I believe, is in the bets…" he smirked as he watched he fellow gamblers' faces, "But since Toguro is such a favorite and no one bets against him, I simply used Team Urameshi as a wild card…"

At this, the other gamblers narrowed there eyes towards him.

"What's that supposed to mean?" one of them asked seriously.

"Are you trying to say you helped them?"

Sakyo shook his head and smiled in amusement, "No, no…Urameshi made it here on his own…" he paused and smirked, "…The only thing I did was kill Butajiri…oh and Tarukane of course…"

One of the men shot up to his feet furiously. His fist shook at his side and he glared at the other man wrathfully, "…How…how dare you!" he shouted and whipped his head around towards the door—where a group of demons stood waiting, "KILL HIM NOW!"

But Sakyo only smirked as the assassins approached him. He didn't have to do or say anything before Toguro suddenly emerged from behind him.

He looked down at his hands and smiled as the screams of pain and slicing of flesh could be heard in front of him. The gambler watched as a splatter of blood splashed next to his foot before he lifted his head to view the rest of the room.

The gambler seemed unaffected by the fact that the floor was now drenched in the sickly red liquid and the rest of the gamblers and the demons lay strewn about in bits and pieces. He calmly took out a handkerchief and wiped the residue of blood off of his boots

"I assume you took care of that business of yours, Toguro…" he started casually. He tucked the cloth back into his pocket and leaned back in his chair comfortably, "…So what do you think of my plan…?" he wondered.

The apparition said nothing for a moment, "…It's a bit complicated…" he answered, "But as for the idea…I agree…"

The room was quiet for a moment until Toguro spoke again.

"Although, not that it matters to me…" he added on, "…I've acquired so much power that I wouldn't be able to enter Makai even if I wanted to…"

He suddenly smirked.

"…And when Urameshi dies…there will be no one left in Ningenkai to challenge me."

-:-

Yusuke was furiously fighting back his tears by now. His fingernails dug into his palm and his fist began to shake violently.

The more he thought about it…

The more he couldn't get it out of his mind…

He knew that no matter what happened he would never be able to forgive Toguro for what he had done. There was no way in hell that he would let that bastard get away with his sin…

And he would personally make sure of that.

Urameshi fiercely gritted his teeth; Toguro had no reason to kill Genkai…he had no reason to take her away from them!

…He was only after blood…

The detective realized this with a start and his eyes grew wide as it finally occurred to him.

It didn't matter who or what got in his way, Toguro would find some way to get exactly what he wanted…and if that meant killing, it didn't matter. If it meant that Yusuke would get stronger, it was all the better that he used force…

He felt his heart nearly skip a beat…

There was no stopping him…

_The demon's grip tightened around her throat and she let out a small gasp of air. Her eyes opened weakly so that she was just barely able to make out Toguro's form. Her hands tried desperately to pry his grip away from her neck…_

Yusuke froze.

"_Dammit, Mai! What the hell is wrong?" he hissed—trying not to alert their companions, "If it's about Toguro, get over it! I'm going to make sure that bastard never touches you again, don't you understand that?"_

_He found himself gripping her by the shoulders and lifting her halfway off the bed. Mai looked up at him blankly—but there was a hint of sadness deep within those violet-speckled eyes. When the detective noticed this, he blinked in surprise and gently loosened his grip._

"_Mai…?"_

"_Please, Yusuke…just…go away…"_

His fist clenched in his lap…even though his eyes seemed to fill with horror…

If…if he wasn't able to stop him…

Then he might—

Urameshi's eyes shot up suddenly.

He sat there for a moment, frozen in shock as he stared into the cave before him…

"_Hey, dimwit…"_

"Genkai…"

Mai glanced up at the detective. She noticed him staring into the cavern when he said this, but to the guardian, there was no sign of the old woman.

She watched him sadly, "…Yusuke…"

"…How long do you think he's going to stay like this…?" Koenma wondered from beside her.

The guardian slowly shook her head, "…I…I'm not sure…"

He waited for a moment before he began making his way towards the detective. Mai watched him curiously as he stopped behind Yusuke. The demigod placed his hands in his pockets casually as he watched the detective.

"…Genkai left a message for you…" he told him.

Almost immediately, Urameshi whipped around to face the toddler; as if silently demanding him to tell him what it was. Koenma studied him for a moment before he continued:

"She said the last year of her life sucked because you were a pain-in-the-ass student…" he paused and his tone softened a little bit, "…She also asked that you stay alive for a long time so she could finally get some peace and quiet…"

There was a pause that filled the clearing…

But then Mai noticed the detective wiping at his eyes.

And unexpectedly, Yusuke suddenly jumped backwards into the air. His body flipped several times before he landed back on the ground several yards away.

He slowly straightened…and a smile reached his lips. He hesitated for only a moment, but in the same motion he raised his hands to the sky where his index finger pointed to the heavens…

"Heh…I have a message for the old bitch too…" he said, "…I'm going to show her what I can do with this power she gave me…"

Without warning, the area around the detective exploded in a burst of blue light. His energy whipped around him furiously in a glowing cyclone and swirled above his head. The air around him shuddered at the mass of its power and the ground began to crumble beneath him.

A fierce wind blew through the clearing, and on instinct, both Mai and Koenma raised their hands in front of them.

Even the earth began to shake beneath Urameshi's power and steadily began to give way as debris was lifted up into the air.

Yusuke would not let his eyes leave the sky, "…This is my way of showing her I understand…"

The energy swirling around him almost froze in time. And as if it were in a vacuum, it was suddenly sucked to the spot where his finger pointed to the sky. But it continued to grow at that location…almost to the point where it nearly surrounded him.

As if it slow motion, Yusuke's body was forced backwards by the blast as it erupted into the air. The ground shattered beneath him and his feet dug deeply into the earth. And the clearing was suddenly filled with the bright blue light that took off into the sky.

The blast shot off into the air like a rocket; furiously charging through the sky and even the highest clouds.

Mai couldn't help but watch it in awe as it spiraled through the sky…but then her eyes found their way back to the detective sitting at the base of the newly-formed crater…

She saw him grit his teeth…

…and several tears trickle down the side of his face…

"…Yeah…" he said quietly, "…I think she got my message…"

-:-

Toguro smirked as he stared out the window. Calmly, he placed one of his hands into his pocket and watched the blast of energy charge through the air over the island.

So…he finally had the power to take him on at one-hundred percent…

…But did he have the heart to do it…?

-:-

Kuwabara eyed the hilt in front of him suspiciously. He had not touched it since Suzuka handed it to him…and he almost had no intention of picking it up again.

The giant moon was steadily rising behind him as he sat across from the weapon.

Well…for the most part, it didn't _look_ dangerous…

But then again, Suzuka had said that he didn't exactly know what the side-effects would be if he decided to use it—for all he knew, he could explode or something!

Cautiously, Kazuma picked up a twig lying next to him. He prodded the hilt uncertainly as if it would spontaneously combust if he tried to touch it. When nothing happened, he furrowed his brow determinedly.

"This is stupid!" he told himself irritably, "I'm not gonna wuss out on something like this! Come here you stupid sword!"

He grasped the hilt furiously and held it between his hands. The redhead glared at it as he began to channel his energy through his arms and into his hands—

In an instant, a blast of light erupted from the hilt. The glow was so strong, that Kuwabara squinted and held the sword further out in front of him. When he was finally able to open his eyes, they grew wide in awe at the weapon he held in his hands.

Energy crackled through the hilt and Kazuma could tell that the power that resonated through his hands was much greater than his spirit sword…

"Whoa…cool…" he said, unbelieving, "It didn't explode…"

A grin suddenly popped onto his face, "Wait'll till Urameshi gets a load of this!"

The energy retreated back into the hilt as Kuwabara raced across the clearing. He quickly made his way through the forest surrounding the island until the hotel was in clear view.

He was so excited about his new technique that he hardly even noticed Mai heading towards him…

"Hey, Kazuma!"

The redhead nearly fell over at the speed he stopped. He staggered for a moment before he was able to steady himself and grinned yet again.

"Hey! We were wondering where you two were! Speaking of which…" he continued when he remembered why he was so excited, "…Where's Urameshi? Is he back at the hotel?"

She paused for a moment and shook her head, "No he's—"

The guardian was cut off suddenly when a blast of light erupted from the direction of the beaches. The ground beneath the two of them shuddered as the glow hovered eerily in the air.

Kuwabara heard Mai sigh.

"No he's on the beach," she finished quietly.

-:-

Yusuke folded his hands together in front of him while his spirit energy continued to engulf him. The blue light surrounded the detective in almost an ocean of energy; almost to the point where the power was intoxicating.

The detective narrowed his eyes fiercely.

…If Toguro was willing to kill Genkai…

…He would make sure that that bastard would never have a chance to kill again—

He would make sure _he_ killed Toguro first.

Urameshi's energy pulsed stronger now, and his eyes seemed to flare with an anger that could not be quenched.

_The demon's grip tightened around her throat and she let out a small gasp of air. Her eyes opened weakly so that she was just barely able to make out Toguro's form. Her hands tried desperately to pry his grip away from her neck…_

The detective growled under his breath and his eyes narrowed further. The energy that resonated around him brightened fiercely to the point where it would have blinded anyone else.

"_Mai…?"_

"_Please, Yusuke…just…go away…"_

Kuwabara stared awe-filled over the ledge he and the guardian were standing on. The earth beneath them trembled, but for the time being, neither of them took notice.

"What the hell is that!" he demanded, "That's too bizarre—it can't possibly be Urameshi's energy, can it?"

Mai only nodded as she kept her eyes locked on the detective.

The redhead gritted his teeth, "Well, when the hell did he get that strong—?"

He was cut off suddenly when the pair noticed Yusuke withdraw the energy back into his body. He paused a moment even as the ground shuddered a final time—but it was just enough that it caused the ledge both Kuwabara and Mai were on to crumble.

The guardian easily noticed this, and stepped out of range…

Kazuma however, did not pick on as quickly.

He fell onto the beach along with the rest of the ledge; letting out a groan that was quite comical. Mai nimbly jumped down after him and helped him to his feet while Yusuke watched the pair with his hands resting on his hips.

"Nice entrance there, Kuwabara…" he said bluntly.

The redhead grumbled something incoherently under his breath—before he suddenly whipped out the Trial Sword from his pocket, "Yeah, laugh it up, Urameshi!" he told him, "But you won't be laughing too long when you see my new, wicked awesome sword—!"

"Shut it, baka."

The trio turned to find Hiei standing near the face of the cliff. He moved from beneath the shadows, and almost immediately, Kazuma let out a small cry of horror.

"What the hell did you do to your arm?" he nearly screamed.

The apparition glanced down at his right limb absently. It was severely cut and was still bleeding freely over his hand, "Oh this?" he wondered and his gaze darkened, "My arm disobeyed a direct order from me…so a punished it…"

By now, Kuwabara was steadily moving away from the black-haired demon, "The only people I know who do that are in psychiatric hospitals right now…" he muttered, before he quickly shook his head to rid himself of the subject, "So where's Kurama?" he asked hoping to get his mind off of Hiei's crazy tactics.

"He's been standing next to you for the last three minutes," Mai told him calmly and gestured.

Kazuma jumped when he found the redhead leaning against the rock next to him. The guardian could have sworn she heard him mutter something along the lines of 'They're all crazy!'

But his surprise quickly past as he glanced around the group, "…Wow, we're basically all here—all we need is to find Genkai—"

At this, it was almost as if Yusuke and Mai stiffened in unison. The guardian turned her head away while Urameshi had to force his fist into his pocket.

Both Kurama and Hiei noticed this and raised their eyebrows suspiciously. And the redhead noticed Mai bracing herself either against tears or what Yusuke was planning on saying…

Obviously, it was not what she was expecting:

"She's not coming, Kuwabara," the detective said without looking at him, "…She…she said she needed some time to rest…"

-:-

Mai kept her eyes on the ground in front of her, unmoving. The detective walked beside her and the rest of their teammates appeared ahead of them as they returned back to the hotel.

He violet-speckled eyes closed a moment, "…Why didn't you just tell them, Yusuke…?" she wondered quietly, "Just…told them the truth…"

For a long time, he was silent. The guardian listened to their feet shuffling along the dirt path and watched several pebbles skitter ahead of them. It seemed as though the remaining three of their companions had gone quiet in order to listen to their conversation…

But she knew it was just her imagination.

When the detective finally answered, it was hardly more than a whisper…

"…I couldn't do it, Mai…" he told her quietly, "…I couldn't bring myself to tell them. Because…deep in my heart, I'm still holding on to the hope that she's coming back; that she'll just appear and make one of her snide comments…"

"…or give us another piece of wisdom…" Mai finished softly.

Yusuke sighed, "…Yeah…" but quickly his gaze became hooded for the countless time that day, "Truthfully…I was afraid to tell them the truth, because…because if I did, I'd just be admitting to myself that she was gone for good…

"And that's just something I don't know how to do…"

-:-

a/n: okie dokie! I'm done with another chapter! HURRAY!

Anyway…sad, yes…

But so is the next chapter (Sarah1281, you know what's gonna happen—and you better not say anything:goes and sharpens knifes just in case: I'M WATCHING YOU!) hehe, but anywhos…

I should probably go find that summer reading book…(hah, random thought, ah well…)

Hey did anyone watch Saturday's Inuyasha w/ Jankotsu? IT WAS HILLARIOUS! Haha, at least I thought parts of it were…but that's just crazy kitkat—so what can you do?

…Well…

That's enough pointless drabble for tonight! I'm going to bed everyone!

PEACE OUT!


	31. The Beginning of the End: Live

DISCLAIMER: I don't own YYH…but Mai and all my original characters are mine—so no stealing! (but I do not own Linkin Park or any music or bands)

a/n: …um okay, before all of you start throwing pitchforks at me for this next part…PLEASE DON'T BE MAD AT ME! I decided on this a long time ago…and I really haven't found a good way around it (or at least one that I liked…)

Anyway…

Cookies to my reviewers! (or at least what's left of them)

Umeko Saito: NOOOOOOOOOO MY COOKIES! T.T

XxXHellzFireAngelXxX: um…heh, once again, don't hate me for this next part :nervous laugh:

Shadowkitsune7: You're welcome! Hehe, well here's your super-yummy update! LoL

Little Sakura 87: LoL, what is with everyone and cookies this chapter? Yeah, but Genkai rocked! T.T WE'LL MISS YOU GRANDMA! (hehe, or at least until the end of the Dark Tournament Saga, right?)

_Thoughts_

_Forever Fornever II_

:The Beginning of the End: Live:

Mai shifted slightly as the sunlight danced before her eyes. She squinted through the glow at the window in front of her and moaned softly. For a long time, the guardian rolled onto her back and lay staring up at the ceiling.

It was almost as if everything was a blur…everything that had happened the previous day was all a shadow in her mind. Like…like if she stayed in bed any longer, Genkai would burst through the door and start firing spirit bullets at her until she could scramble out from beneath the sheets.

She slowly and carefully closed her eyes; hoping that it really was just some horrible dream. But deep in her heart—no matter how much she wished against it—she knew that old woman would never return…

Not many people did after they had died…

The guardian hugged her pillow to her chest and sighed heavily. Above all else, she dreaded leaving the comforts of her bed…she dreaded returning to the reality that had turned into a terrible nightmare…

All she wanted…was to just fade away…

"_Tell Urameshi I'm looking forward to our fight…"_

Her eyes snapped open suddenly as a cold sweat appeared along her brow.

"_But when you and Urameshi came to Tarukane's mansion, there was something about the passion he had when he fought…" there was a sudden glint in his eyes, "the passion he had when he was protecting _you_…"_

Mai sat up abruptly and clutched her head; trying to shut out the images of the apparition.

No…no she couldn't…

_He_ couldn't—

…Not without her…

Urameshi wasn't going into this without her…They were a team, and she would make sure it stayed that way until the end…

She absently massaged her brow. But her fingers stopped when they began to trace along the edges of the stones etched along her forehead. The guardian paused as she felt over the smooth rocks…

But as she did so however, she suddenly felt a surge of energy race through her fingertips. Mai didn't seem surprised by this, but she abruptly removed her hand from her head and stared off at the ground in front of her.

…They were going to show Genkai, once and for all, what she had done for them…

…and what they could do with the powers she had bestowed…

Determined now, the guardian suddenly rose to her feet and made her way towards the dresser at the other end of the room; reaching out towards her fighting outfit…

Only to hesitate as her fingers made contact with the fabric waiting for her. Mai's eyes grew distant suddenly as she stared at the uniform…

…It only occurred to her now how much it resembled Genkai's…

She stared at it sadly…she supposed wearing it had always been a way for her to show her admiration for the old woman…

…Heh…

A lot of good that did them…

The guardian absently slipped it over her head and sighed. For a long time, the darkness of the room swallowed her; leaving her to linger in her thoughts—

But then she quickly shook her head and ran her fingers through her hair. No, not now…she wouldn't let herself get tangled up in it right now…

So if Genkai somehow had a problem with her ignoring her death—then that old woman would have to come down from Rekai and say it to her face.

Mai tightened the sash around her waist tightly before she opened the door into the main room. She paused for a moment as she stared at her companions sitting silently before her…the silence was almost deafening…

There would be no more practicing…and no more second chances from this point on...

…This was the beginning of the end.

She stopped however, when she realized Yusuke was not among the team. A small frowned furrowed along her face as her head turned towards the detective's room. The door was closed, and from the crack beneath it, she could tell it was still dark inside.

What did that idiot think he was doing? This was there final match, and he wasn't even ready yet!

Silently, she moved across the room towards his door. Kuwabara looked up as she went to go stand next to the room's entryway.

"Good luck trying to get him to come out, Mai," he told her, "He hasn't shown his face since last night…"

But Mai was determined…even though by now, her features had softened slightly. She paused as her hand stretched out towards the handle. Maybe…he hadn't overcome his grief after all…

She knocked softly, "Yusuke…?" her hand reached out towards the knob, "…Yusuke, we're going to be leaving soon…"

The guardian cautiously turned the handle and let the door creak open. It took a moment before her eyes were able to adjust to the gloom—but when they did she found the detective sitting along the bedside. The only light came from the open window in front of him.

Mai quietly stepped inside and closed the door behind her. She watched him sadly as he wallowed in his despair. And carefully, she took a step towards him…

The guardian waited a long time, but Urameshi didn't stir.

"…Yusuke…?"

Abruptly, she started when the detective suddenly stood. His gaze was hooded and his eyes never left the ground.

She watched him worriedly as he stood in front of her. The detective's eyes remained hooded and locked on a point in front of him. It might have just been her…but he almost looked as though he was being weighed down by an invisible burden.

"Yusuke…?"

Mai saw him shake his head slowly. Cautiously, she took another step closer to him…but even then he didn't make any acknowledgement that she was there…

By now, she was growing angry; was he still depressed over Genkai? Dammit, _she_ was still hearbroken over it—but at least she wasn't still moping around! They were supposed to go up against Toguro and he was still sulking in his room!

Urameshi was still silent and the guardian felt her hand balling into a fist; shaking angrily.

So without warning, Mai suddenly slapped him across the face. Angry tears filled her eyes and rolled down her cheek.

His head jerked with the blow and a red welt appeared along the side of his cheek.

…But still he didn't move…

"Yusuke, you ass—!" Mai cut herself off suddenly when she realized that the detective had caught her wrist, "Eh…?" She blinked when she realized that he wasn't holding it forcefully—as if he were mad at her…but gently…as if he was holding her hand. The guardian noticed him watching her hand before he lowered his gaze again.

"…I'm sorry, Mai…"

She blinked again in surprise, "What? I was the one who just slapped you! What could you—?"

Mai was suddenly cut off as Yusuke placed his hands on her shoulders. Without giving her any warning, Urameshi pulled her towards him in one sweeping motion…

"Yusuke, what—?"

_--Her eyes became hidden beneath her veil of crimson hair. But from within, the detective could hear her quiet sobs while her shoulders trembled. Teardrops fell from behind her hair, but she didn't seem to try and prevent them from coming._

_Yusuke slowly let go of her and her fists clenched at the ground beneath her. He watched as the tears streamed down her face; his gaze softened as she continued to cry._

_He sighed, but said nothing. After a long, hesitant pause, the detective found himself reaching out to her. And without waiting for a reaction, his arms suddenly wrapped around her and pulled her towards his chest._

_It was almost as if she hadn't even noticed, but her sobs continued. Her tears stained his shirt, even though Urameshi didn't seem to mind. The detective wrapped his arms around her in a protective fashion just as he felt her hands clutching weakly at his shirt._

_Both of them sat in silence for the longest time—all save for Mai's muffled sobs. From a little ways off, Kira watched the pair curiously with her head cocked. Yusuke pressed her tighter to him and Mai let out a small hiccup._

"_You're…You're hopeless you know that?" he said quietly.—_

_--She smiled gently and suddenly pointed upwards, "Oh look, Yusuke!" Mai cried and stared up at the sky, "It's snowing!"_

_Confused, the detective followed her gaze to find the flurries drifting down from the heavens above. The guardian smiled as the snowflakes began to flutter around them; gentling catching themselves in her locks of crimson hair.—_

_--_"_Okay…" Kuwabara though another moment longer, "I dare you…" he snickered as the idea came to him, "I dare you to kiss Urameshi!"_

"_WHAT?" both Mai and the detective shouted in unison._

"_I can't do that—!" Yusuke cried._

"_I would never kiss Urameshi!"_

_The detective suddenly froze and blinked. He turned towards the guardian, folding his arms over his chest, "What do you mean 'you would never kiss me'? Are you trying to imply something, Mai?" he demanded._

_She stared at him, "What! No! It's just that I—I mean…I can't…"—_

_--"Stop it, Yusuke!" she screamed as tears swelled within her eyes, "You're killing yourself! I can't stand it anymore, Yusuke! I can't stand the thought of you leaving me alone!"—_

_--_"_You're stuck with me, remember?"—_

_--They were a team, and she would make sure it stayed that way until the end—_

Her eyes grew wide suddenly when she realized that his lips were against her own. It wasn't a fierce kiss that those jerks stole in romance movies…

But it was gentle…

…Almost to the point where it was sad…

The guardian blinked and stared at the detective in front of her. What…what the hell was he thinking? What was wrong with him? She asked herself, nearly horrified—but despite this, she felt her defenses leaving her…

…and simply giving way…

Mai started suddenly when she realized that Yusuke was crying. His tears traced her lips sadly and she tasted the salty liquid in her mouth…

But then she abruptly felt him pulling her away and lowered his gaze a final time…

"This…maybe the last time I'll be able to see you…" he whispered.

She blinked at him; still trying to recover from her shock. But when she finally did, she forced an unconvincing laugh, "What are you talking about, Urameshi?" she wondered with a poor excuse for a smile, "We're going to beat Toguro and win the t—"

"Please…" he murmured, "…Live for me, Mai…"

The guardian blinked, "Wha—?"

_Everything has to end… _

_you'll soon find we're out of time _

_to watch it all unwind_

_The sacrifice is never knowing…_

Her eyes suddenly grew wide…and a flash of pain crossed over her face.

Mai's vision blurred fiercely as she stared up at the detective; her hand weakly reaching up towards him…

"…ke…"

Urameshi reached out his arm and caught her as she fell. With one hand holding the guardian off the ground, his other was balled into a fist that was steadily glowing in a light blue light.

His gaze hardened and became hooded…but that didn't stop several tears from running down his face.

"…I'm sorry, Mai…"

The detective was swept into a silence as he cradled her body to him; tears silently tracing his face. He stared down at her unconscious form for only a moment…before he gritted his teeth and lifted her into his arms.

Carefully, he placed her along the bed and leaned over her body sadly as several more tears raced down the side of his face.

"…I'm so sorry…"

"Urameshi?"

Yusuke didn't have to turn to recognize Kuwabara's voice. Behind the redhead, both of their other teammates peered into the room.

Noticing Mai, Kurama quickly turned to the detective and his eyes narrowed slightly, "Yusuke…?"

But Kuwabara was already charging towards the bed and the detective, "Urameshi, what the hell did you do? Mai! MAI—!"

Yusuke furiously whipped around and instantly grabbed Kazuma by the collar. In one motion, he instantly pinned him against the wall behind him.

His eyes flared angrily.

"Wake her up, Kazuma…and I swear I'll kill you…" he muttered fiercely.

Urameshi roughly released him and stormed out of the room. The redhead's eyes grew wide as he watched him—but he quickly gritted his teeth and in an instant he was racing after him…leaving Kurama and Hiei in the room…

"Hn…" the apparition rested his hand on the hilt of his shattered sword, "…I expected an objection from you too, fox…" he said with a hint of amusement.

The redhead didn't answer.

"_She had such a pretty scream from earlier…making her sing will be quite enjoyable…" Karasu told him villainously; suddenly holding Mai within his grasp. His pale fingers laced around her throat and he placed his head up against her cheek._

_The akage furiously shook his head, "No…NO DON'T!"_

_Karasu smirked, "…So let's sing a little song for him, shall we?"_

_And all Kurama heard was her screams of pain—_

Instinctively, he winced as his mind flashed through other—more gruesome—images of Karasu destroying her…The akage gritted his teeth as little by little, those images became more and more clear…

Kurama was silent for a moment; his eyes staring off vacantly at the bed, "…You knew it too…didn't you?" he asked suddenly.

His companion thought for a moment and snorted, "Their feelings aren't that hard to read…it doesn't take a genius to figure out those two…"

Hiei trailed off when he noticed the redhead clenching his fist. The apparition cocked his eyebrow curiously.

"…Then I must be a fool…" he muttered darkly as his fist began to shake slightly…

_Karasu smirked, "…So let's sing a little song for him, shall we?"_

"…It's better this way, then…"

-:-

"URAMESHI! What the hell's your problem?"

The detective whipped around to face Kazuma.

"Do you want to know, Kuwabara?" he growled furiously; his eyes glaring with a fiery anger.

The redhead appeared unyielding and folded his arms over his chest; narrowing his eyes, "If it means figuring out why Mai is now KO'd back at the hotel room—then sure, why the hell not!"

Yusuke glared at him fiercely, as if he were moments away from grinding the redhead into the ground. Kazuma noticed him clenching his fists at his side; desperately holding back from punching him in the face. There were trickles of blood that seeped through the detective's fingers as his nails dug into his palm.

Kuwabara gritted his teeth and suddenly gripped the detective by the collar, "What the hell is wrong with you?" he demanded angrily, "You've been screwed-up ever since yesterday—and now Mai's lying unconscious back at the hotel room! Either this tournament has really gotten to you, or you're not telling us something!"

But suddenly, his anger died…and Yusuke turned his face away from his friend. The redhead watched him curiously…but the detective appeared to be desperately avoiding breaking down.

He clenched his teeth again.

"Do you want to know…?" he whispered again, more harshly.

The hallway went silent as Kazuma nodded. And Urameshi lowered his gaze a final time.

"…I'm afraid, Kuwabara…" he muttered quietly and his fist clenched again, "…I'm afraid she'll get hurt—that Toguro…" he furiously shut his eyes, "That Toguro would kill her! She's too damn stubborn so even if I told her to stay away, that stupid bitch would come along anyway!"

Kuwabara started in surprise when he noticed the detective's eyes filling with tears.

"He'll do it too…he doesn't care…he'll kill her whether I can stop him or not," his fist shook, "This is the only way I can save her…don't you see that, Kuwabara? Even if we won the tournament…I'm not sure what I'd do if she died…"

Kazuma was silent for a moment. And after a pause, he glanced back towards the hotel room.

The detective was nearly startled out of his mind when he suddenly heard his friend laughing. He turned to find the redhead grinning goofily.

"You know…you have some pretty messed-up ways of showing people you care," he said with a grin, "You can probably bet when she wakes up—whether you're dead or not—she'll be looking for some revenge on your sorry ass."

Yusuke stared at him in bewilderment for a long time as Kuwabara continued to chuckle…

And it was only then that Urameshi broke a small smile, "Yeah, well that won't be anything new…" and he scratched the back of his neck, "…I just hope Kurama isn't pissed at me…"

"On the contrary…"

Kazuma nearly leapt out the air, "Where the hell do you people come from?" he shouted at the two apparitions standing behind him.

Kurama calmly placed his hand inside of his pocket. Both Yusuke and Kuwabara noticed something different about him…only they couldn't quite place what it was…

"If what you say is true…" he began quietly, "…Then Mai would just pose as a danger to herself if she were to come with us today. If this was the only way to keep her away from the stadium…then I have no objections…"

"Hn, not to mention the onna would just find some way of interfering with your fight, Urameshi…" Hiei added on while shooting the detective a glance.

He let out a nervous laugh, "Heh, yeah that's true…" he agreed and ran his hand through his hair absently. But his gaze couldn't help but fall back down the hallway towards the hotel room door…

The group was silent for a long time…but that was before Yusuke calmly stretched and turned down the hallway.

"Well, I doubt Toguro is going to fight himself…Might as well go confront that bastard…" he told them casually and headed off.

Soon after, his other teammates followed; all of them reminded of what today might bring…and filled with a determination to see it through…

Yusuke however, quickly dropped his calm composure when his companions began following him. He lowered his gaze towards the ground as his legs continued to carry him forward…

"…_Live for me, Mai…"_

He gritted his teeth; it was a horrible thing to say…

…but…he had to…

So he could keep living himself…

"…_Live, Mai_…"

-:-

"THAT JERK!"

Ayame glanced up from the papers in her hand, "Miss Kira, is there something wrong?" she wondered softly.

The former guardian stood in front of the screen on the other side of Koenma's desk. Images of Mai lying along the bed and Yusuke and the others leaving the hotel flashed across the monitor. Kira however, flushed furiously…almost to the point where it was rather comical…

"ER! He can't just leave her there like that!" she shouted angrily—and looked almost as though she was ready to throw a tantrum.

The ferry-girl calmly went to stand beside her, "…I do have to admit, Master Urameshi's tactics are rather…different," she picked the words carefully, "…But he also has a point as well…"

Kira clenched her fist, "They've come too far together—and he just leaves her behind in the hotel room!"

"It's a failed attempt to save her life anyway…"

Both Ayame and the guardian suddenly turned. Kira blinked.

"What do you mean, Genkai?" she asked as the pink-haired woman stepped into the office. She moved to stand beside them and glanced casually up at the screen.

Her eyes narrowed slightly, "…Yusuke's trying to protect her against Toguro…" she continued quietly, "But whether he likes it or not—even if he thought he was able to prevent it—there wasn't anything he was ever able to do to help her…"

Kira looked at her, horrified, as fear flashed over her eyes, "…What…what are you saying…?" she whispered to the point where she was hardly audible.

Genkai lowered her eyes sadly, "That before this tournament is over…

"…Mai will _have_ to die…"

-:-

Koenma stared determinedly out the window in front of him. He lowered his gaze and rested his head on the back of his hands with a sigh.

"…So this…this is the beginning of the end…" he whispered.

Beside him, Botan glanced up, "Koenma-dono?"

The demigod didn't respond to her, but instead he rose to his feet and made his way towards the door across the room.

"I'll see you at the match, Botan…" he said as he was leaving, "…I have some important business to attend to…"

-:-

The noise beyond the gate was deafening. The ceiling above them trembled as the demons and apparitions on the other side began to chant and stomp along the stands.

Yusuke folded his arms and leaned up against the wall as his team waited for the gates to open.

"Did you ever find a replacement fighter for Master Genkai?" Kurama wondered as he glanced down the hall.

The detective frowned, "Yeah…" he answered somewhat absently. Urameshi paused a moment and glanced down the hallway as well; as if they would be walking there towards them, "…But they should have been here by now…"

He trailed off suddenly when the gateway doors began to creak open. Beyond, a piercing white light shielded the ring from their view, but nonetheless they still knew it was there…

Urameshi straightened and went to stand beside his teammates. In unison they moved to the archway as the gate opened and stared out into the vast arena waiting for them…the stench of blood and death greeting them almost instantly.

Immediately however, the Urameshi team was greeted by the incessant hissing and booing from the crowds around them…

But it wasn't as though they exactly cared about them…

Especially now that the opposing door from them was steadily creaking open.

The entire Urameshi team narrowed their eyes as their opponents came into view on the other side of the stadium. Leading the pack, Toguro and his elder brother made their way into the arena…and they were followed soon after by Bui and Karasu…

Kurama started when he caught the raven-haired fighter's eye. There was a smirking glint within them that the redhead didn't appreciate at all…

Yusuke clenched his fist suddenly when he and Toguro made eye contact. The apparition smirked…but the detective only watched him in an air of determination.

Narrowing his eyes, the area around him suddenly erupted in a mist of energy that swirled furiously around him. It swayed into the air in such a force that caused many of the demons in the stands to grow quiet. Toguro merely smirked again and narrowed his own eyes towards the detective.

It was then that Juri hastily jumped into the center of the arena and raised her microphone above her head after checking both groups.

"Each team only has four fighters!" she announced with a frown, "And neither team has used their substitute—Both teams must have a minimum of five players or else their team forfeits!"

Toguro calmly placed his hand in his pocket, "…Well then…it's a good thing that we have a reserve fighter…"

And as if on cue, the doors behind his team began to open.

From the shadows, Sakyo calmly emerged and moved to join team Toguro near the ring. He unceremoniously ran his hand through his hair and placed his hands in his pockets, oddly similar to Toguro.

"I don't quite see what you get from calling me a 'fighter', Toguro…" he began, "I'm just here for show; my presence simply allows your team to continue…"

Kuwabara gritted his teeth, "Great…" he muttered, "We're going to lose without even fighting! Way to go Urameshi! You know this is your fault? If you hadn't—!"

The detective's eyes flashed suddenly and he whirled towards the redhead, "Shut it, Kazuma…" he hissed threateningly.

"And cool your jets while you're at it," he continued as he turned back around towards the arena, "…We still have some time…"

And as if prompted by what Urameshi had just said, the doors behind their team began to open as well.

All the rest of his teammates turned…only to find Koenma standing in the archway…

"You chose the toddler…" Hiei said bluntly as he turned back towards the detective, who appeared agitated rather than surprised.

"Took you long enough!" he told the demigod while ignoring the apparition's statement.

Koenma came to stand next to him, "Well maybe next time I should come early and make some refreshments for the rest of you…" he answered simply.

"Alright then, folks!" Juri announced cheerfully, "It looks like both teams finally have five fighters! So let's get this show on the road! Teams…pick your first fighters!"

Without even acknowledging his team, Karasu nimbly stepped into the ring and continued walking until he was more than halfway across.

A smirk glittered in his eyes as he pointed towards Kurama…then slowly, he brought his hand back up towards his head in the shape of a gun.

"_Bang._"

The redhead narrowed his eyes furiously. At his side, his fists clenched dangerously and were at the point where they were nearly shaking. He gritted his teeth as he stepped forward.

"I have a score to settle with this bastard…" he muttered under his breath.

Juri then quickly stepped back into the center of the ring; raising her hand high above her head.

"With no further ado—the first match begins!" she shouted, "Fighting for team Toguro…Karasu! And fighting for team Urameshi…is Kurama!

"BEGIN!"

-:-

a/n: alrighty then, I think I'll end that there…my mind's getting overheated (plus I need to go bug my mom about that book I need for the summer…)

PLEASE DON'T HATE ME! GOMEN NE! T.T

…And yes, Kira was kind of OOC this chapter…but that's okay!

PEACE AND LUV EVERYONE!


	32. The Beast Within

DISCLAIMER: I don't own YYH (or any lyrics that I might use XD) but Mai and all my original characters are mine

a/n: Heh-heh…um…

PLEASE DON'T HURT ME! Kitkat has been very very busy this summer T.T I promise this update will be super long (since I'm combining episodes) if that counts as anything, at least…

But I _was_ able to send in a picture to TOKYOPOP for Fruits Basket (it's also on too if any of you want to see it) I seriously hope they publish it—but then again there are probably thousands of other people trying to send in their pictures too T.T

Cookies to my reviewers!

XxXHellzFireAngelXxX: Yeah, I had a BIG debate with myself over that little incident…but I loved the original fights so much that I couldn't let Mai steal the spotlight from the others! (Heh-heh…let's just say Mai has crappy timing too…)

Little Sakura 87: HEEEY! Calm down! Calm down! I told you there was gonna be a sequel didn't, I? (Just remember kind of how the series worked out!)

Black Spell: Hehe, no problemo!

Shadowkitsune7: LoL, I understand, don't worry!

Umeko Saito: T.T I just wanted my cookies…Hehe, anywhos—yeah I thought that too after I started writing it…but Yusuke-kun deserves to get mushy every once in awhile (Yusuke: --;; no I don't)

Kirra White Tigress: EYAH! A new reviewer! LoL, welcome! (makes an extra batch of cookies) And for that question…you'll just have to wait like everyone else—sorry!

Sarah1281: LoL…that would be a very interesting interpretation of that scenario. (THE NEW FRUITS BASKET CAME OUT! OOOOOO SPOILERS! AND SO DID IMMORTAL RAIN! (but there are still more volume though!) and WHY HAVEN'T YOU UPDATED, MISSY? LoL, just kidding!

_Thoughts_

_Forever Fornever II_

:The Beast Within:

"Master Genkai! _Master Genkai!"_

The pink-haired woman turned to find Kira racing after her down the hall. She was panting, but she didn't let that slow her down as she came upon the deceased psychic.

"What the hell do you mean 'Mai will have to die'?" she demanded breathlessly, "You can't just say something like that and leave!"

Genkai watched her calmly, "You should go back and watch the tournament, Miss Kira…"

The former guardian frowned angrily while the woman remained so casually standing before her, "No…dammit, I'm not just going to sit back and watch knowing that she's going to die! I've been a part of her for over fourteen years—for all I care, she's like a daughter to me; I'm not going to stay here let her die!"

At this however, the older woman snorted softly, "Good luck with that…seeing as though you and I are both dead; a lot of damn good we would do…"

"It's not funny, Master Genkai!" she shouted and her fists clenched at her side. Tears of anger welled up into her eyes furiously as she glared at the psychic, "It's…it's not funny…"

"I never said it was, Kira…" she replied rather quietly and stared off down the hall before her gaze returned to the former guardian, "…I'm not in favor of it either, but that still doesn't stop it from happening. Death is a natural way of life…but sometimes the way we go is unnatural…or unfair…"

Kira shook her head, "But how can you be so calm about it?" she wondered, "…You can't possibly be calm about her dying—not after what she and Yusuke have gone through!"

Genkai only looked at her, "…That's _exactly_ why I'm so calm…" she told her quietly, "…I know what Mai has struggled to conceive lately…and I also know, that when the time comes, she'll realize what it all was for…"

She sighed heavily.

"Mai will know soon enough…that the ultimate sacrifice must be made…"

-:-

"BEGIN!"

Karasu's eyes glinted with the smirk he hid behind his mask, "I must say, Kurama-kun…you're either extremely brave, or just unbelievably foolish; it's rare for anyone who has seen my powers to step into the ring with me…"

Across from him, the akage narrowed his eyes fiercely, "…I would advise you not to underestimate me…" he returned.

But even Kurama seemed uncertain of the words coming from his own mouth…

"_Hey, Kurama…do you think you'll use that medicine that Suzuka gave you?" the other redhead wondered as they waited in the shadows of the tunnel._

_He smiled hollowly, "As a matter of fact, I took some of it two minutes ago. I've ran some experiments and have found that it takes some time for the potion to kick in," he paused a moment as he placed his hand inside of his pocket, "I'll only be able to stay in my demon form for fifteen minutes, however…_

"…_But that should be more than enough."_

He had to be careful; in his human form, Karasu would easily dominate their match. All he had to do was be careful until he would revert once again into Yoko…

However, knowing what powers his opponent possessed created the feeling that it was easier said than done.

Kurama's hand folded into his palm slowly, and in the same sweeping motion he spread his arms outward. There were rose petals suddenly swirling in the air around him and he narrowed his eyes towards his opponent daringly.

Behind his lips, the redhead gritted his teeth, _at least there's some sort of barrier between us…_

His thoughts wandered off suddenly when he realized that Karasu was moving towards him. The petals breezed past him harmlessly…until one of them gently grazed the side of his exposed cheek.

Karasu stopped a moment and his eyes moved towards the side of his face. There was a pause before a tiny sliver of blood stretched along his cheek and a crimson stream trickled across his flesh.

But the apparition seemed unfazed by the scratch, and once again, his eyes lit up into a taunting smirk.

"Really, Kurama-kun, what's with the weak defenses? They really _are_ lacking good substance…"

Kurama narrowed his eyes furiously and drove the petals towards his opponent. The apparition stood calmly as they began to swarm around him in a crimson cyclone—

But without warning, his eyes lit up.

There was suddenly a pause; as if nothing would happen. But then, the petals surrounding him began to burst into flames while the sounds of tiny explosions filled the air.

The redhead stepped back slightly out of surprise; he…he didn't even _need_ too touch the petals to destroy them—

Suddenly, he sensed someone beside him. He whirled—only to find his opponent standing calmly next to him. The apparition's violet eyes flashed dangerously.

"Surprise."

Kurama stumbled clumsily out of the way as the demon hurled his fist towards him. He staggered for only a moment before he launched himself into the air. _Dammit…he's fast…_the akage thought to himself as he fumbled for his whip beneath his hair.

He saw Karasu watching him from below. The redhead gritted his teeth as he flung the weapon towards him.

But hardly the instant after it recoiled from his hand, there was another explosion. Kurama's eyes went wide slightly as he watched the other half of the whip dropped uselessly to the ground below him. He landed only a moment after and tossed the rest of his weapon away from him.

"It's really a shame that we couldn't have met under better circumstances, Kurama-kun…" his opponent began casually, but then he smirked, "You know you can't stop me but you continue to try all the same. That's what's so appealing about you."

Both fighters squared off on either side of the ring. Kurama refused to let his defenses down, but Karasu appeared ready to change that.

"Besides," he continued slowly, "I've found that there's no greater rush than taking the life of someone you care for. The intimacy that murderer and victim share is unparalleled…" his eyes flashed suddenly, "And then again…there is also the intoxicating feeling of taking the life of the one _they_ care for…"

Kurama's eyes widened and the apparition noticed the redhead's hands balling fiercely into fists.

"Where's that lovely flower of yours, Kurama-kun…? You're not trying to hide her from me, are you?" Karasu wondered rather cockily.

The akage gritted his teeth, _that—_

"—Now, now, Kurama…you should know better than to weaken your guard…"

He jumped when he suddenly realized that Karasu was in front of him. Kurama cried out slightly as he jumped backwards just as his opponent swiped at him again. The redhead landed a few feet away and skidded to a halt.

But his eyes grew wide suddenly as an explosion ripped at his arm.

Kurama cried out in pain as he clutched his now-bleeding arm and crumpled to his knees. He gritted his teeth furiously as he slowly and shakily tried to make it back to his feet.

Dammit, he needed to transform _now_!

He switched his stance; he was getting no where trying to defend himself, he needed to go on the offensive—

Suddenly, he screamed again as another explosion tore at his knee; pulling him back to the ground. The redhead panted heavily as beads of sweat appeared along his brow and his body began to tremble. He fiercely shut his eyes while his fingers dug into his bleeding arm.

"…Perhaps I should explain how my power works," Karasu began as he casually walked towards his victim; as if savoring Kurama's pain, "It's the same as yours—in the idea that you manipulate things with your energy that already exist. I manifest my thoughts into tangible items," a smirk glinted in his eyes, "For example the object of which I am holding, you can't see it but it is real and very deadly…"

The apparition held his hand aloft in front of him from which an orb of light, glowing green, crackled in his palm. And although Kurama could not see it, in his other hand Karasu held another bomb shaped eerily like the head of a skull.

The raven-haired fighter narrowed his eyes suddenly as he hurled the bomb towards his opponent.

"Heads up."

-:-

_Mai saw the shadows dancing before her…swirling eerily as if they had been veiled within a silver mist. She heard cries of pain that echoed around her as well as the occasional eruption of some sort of bomb…_

_It was only then that she recognized a familiar cry amidst the noise…_

"…_Kurama…"_

The guardian stirred and her brow furrowed weakly.

"…kun…"

-:-

The explosion lit up the entire stadium while the smoke and dust swirled furiously around the arena. The Urameshi team shielded their eyes with their hands as the blast whipped past them in a furious wind.

But as the gale began to settle, the ring still remained surrounded by a cloud of smoke…

Yusuke gritted his teeth, "KURAMA!"

Along the arena, Karasu nimbly landed back onto the tile flooring…he paused however, when he noticed something falling to the ground beside him.

He glanced downwards to find several droplets of blood dripping onto the tile below him. The apparition calmly raised his hand—only to find that a rose had impaled his palm, and had been the cause of his abrupt loss in blood.

The raven-haired demon narrowed his eyes slightly, "How cute…"

In front of him however, the smoke swirling around the ring had suddenly begun to meld into a silver mist. Karasu gazed upwards as the haze began to swirl rapidly around a single figure standing amidst the fog.

A pair of golden eyes glinted back from within the mist, and a deep-throated laugh rang through the stadium…

"Ah…Yoko is back, they cry!"

Urameshi unexpectedly took a step backwards; _what the hell? This guy's power is unbelievable!_

The silver-haired kitsune stepped out from the veil of fog and smirked calmly towards the apparition in front of him, "I'm sorry to say that Suichi wouldn't have survived that blast…being human and all; so it was fortunate that I came when I did…"

"Wait a second!" Urameshi said abruptly, "Who the hell _is_ this?"

Hiei smirked from beside him as he folded his arms over his chest, "Meet Kurama's demon counterpart…Yoko Kurama…"

The fox demon eyed his opponent in anticipation and not without the smirk that curled at his lips, "You belong to a class of demons that I believe are worthy to fight, Karasu…" He paused as he glanced down at his bloody hand and he raised it to his face. His tongue darted out and licked at the crimson liquid while his eyes narrowed, "…But also worthy to die…"

But the raven-haired apparition only appeared amused by this statement—and also by his opponent's new transformation, "But you do realize…that we are still not equals…"

Yoko's eyes glinted and he smiled sadistically, "Wholly assured Karasu, I fully agree…"

His golden eyes darted briefly to the air around the apparition before him. He smirked inwardly as he noticed the flying creatures hovering around the raven-haired demon. Their eyes stared at him, unblinking as they flapped in the air.

So it was these useless creatures that were causing so much trouble…

Karasu seemed to sense that Yoko was now able to see his little creations and smirked. He stretched out his hand—and almost instantly, the bomb-like creatures hurled themselves towards the silver-haired kitsune waiting for them.

Yoko flicked his fingers briefly…causing a pair of roses to materialize in his hand. In one motion, he clicked his wrist and the flowers shot through the air.

Like bullets, they shot through Karasu's minions…until every last one of them had detonated.

But the raven-haired fighter merely let out a dark laugh. Around him, dozens more of his flying bomb creatures appeared flying around him and without being commanded, drove towards the kitsune. Yoko quickly maneuvered around them and continued to dodge…but Karasu continued to laugh.

"They're quite useful really…and if you come from the class of demons that I'm from, you can create all sorts of things…" the apparition smirked, "These are my Trace-Eyes—came up with them all on my own—and quite devious actually; once they set their sights on you, they will follow you forever…"

The kitsune returned the grin as he eyed the bombs now surrounding him, "Well then…I guess it's only fair to introduce you to the Ojigi…" he drawled calmly as he raised his hand to reveal a single seed, "It's a plant very sensitive to movement and can only be found in certain regions of South America. When it senses movement it can be quite deadly, especially wraps around its prey; it never lets go..."

Around him, the Trace-Eyes flapped in anticipation and steadily began to close in on the fox apparition.

Yoko narrowed his eyes however and lifted his arm.

Without warning, another explosion resounded through the stadium…only this time, it was not from Karasu. A cyclone of energy erupted from where Yoko had been standing and spiraled upwards towards the ceiling. The Trace-Eyes that were closest to him were instantly eliminated—and with the strength of his energy growing, the rest quickly followed and detonated.

A veil of mist once again surrounded the arena…

But Yoko was not alone this time.

Shadows swirled from within the fog…and as the smoke cleared, those in the stadium were able to make out the fierce shapes that hovered in the air. Leaves rustled and angry hisses emitted from the fanged mouths of the Ojigi plants.

Karasu narrowed his eyes darkly towards the foliage towering above him. On instinct, he took a small step backwards—but the Ojigi swayed dangerously and shifted ominously towards the apparition; as if daring him to make another move.

The silver-haired kitsune closed his eyes calmly and folded his arms over his chest. Around him, more of the Ojigi plants began to blossom and rose into the air.

There was a pause and a death-like silence as the possessed foliage hissed furiously above the arena.

But without warning, Karasu suddenly dodged towards the side. His hand quickly formed around a hand grenade as he continued running. The Ojigi roared furiously and dive-bombed towards the apparition, but when the first one came into range, he whipped the grenade at its head.

The plant erupted into flamed and withered to the ground…but there were still many more to take its place; especially now that Karasu had killed one of their comrades.

Hissing, the Ojigi opened their jaws and beams of energy shot out furiously towards the opponent. But he continued to withdraw many more explosives to deal with them.

Yoko smirked in amusement, "They respond to aggression; the more you attack, the more vicious they'll become…" he informed the other fighter calmly and then raised his index finger to the side of his head, "So you'd better find a quick way to kill them or else…BANG."

Even as he was talking however, the Ojigi plants hissed in fury and threw themselves at the apparition.

Karasu made a move to dodge them, but his eyes grew wide suddenly. It was then, and only then, that he abruptly realized that one of the creatures were just inches in front of him. In an instant, it had wrapped itself around the raven-haired apparition and dragged him into the air.

The leaves of the Ojigi constricted without any sign of letting up. Karasu's eyes grew wide while he struggled for any breath of air that would come to him—but the creature imprisoning him had no intention of giving him that chance.

He let out a strangled cough and gagged, his mouthpiece suddenly ripping away from his face followed shortly by a spurt of blood.

An instant later, the other branches of the Ojigi tackled the other and continued to until Karasu was no longer visible.

A silence rang through the crowd while the possessed foliage rustled quietly.

Yoko narrowed his eyes towards the ball that now entrapped his opponent. His gaze darted quickly to Juri who stood, petrified, beneath the Ojigi plant; sweating with fear.

He pointed towards her, "You…unless you want to be plant food, I wouldn't move…"

The announcer nodded shakily as the kitsune began to make his way off of the arena floor, "Uh-uh huh…"

"JURI!" Koto shouted irritably to the ring from the stands, "What's you decision already?"

After she had made sure that the Ojigi plant was no longer interested in any other moving creature, she carefully rose to her feet and backed away from the creature.

She gulped slightly, "Uh, well since…since it doesn't look as though Karasu is getting out of this one anytime soon…I think it's safe to say that Kurama is—!"

Abruptly, she was cut off as the ball above her began to quiver. Juri blinked and watched it nervously as slowly made its way to the floor of the ring; instantaneously taking a step backwards in the process. And curious about the announcer's delay, Yoko turned back towards the arena and narrowed his golden eyes dangerously.

The ground shook suddenly as another explosion ripped through the stadium. Smoke spiraled up towards the ceiling furiously as a wave of energy whipped over the floor of the ring…

And from within the clouds, Karasu calmly emerged.

"Now look what you've done, Kurama-kun…" he drawled out slowly, "…You really must be more careful next time…"

Toguro suddenly cocked an eyebrow in amusement when he noticed that their teammate was no longer wearing his mouthpiece…and obviously his brother knew it as well…

"Things should get interesting now, don't you think, brother?" the elder Toguro wondered gleefully.

Karasu smirked across the arena at his opponent, and there was something in his eyes that made it feel as though somehow, he had just gotten crazier…

He suddenly narrowed his eyes however, and began to suck in the air around him. Streaks of his black hair melded suddenly into gold…until his entire head had been warped into the same yellow color. But in the same movements, the air around him throbbed with an enormous energy the overpowered his old strength by a dozen or more…

Hiei's gaze darkened suddenly—not because of the sudden power boost Karasu had gained—but because he realized that without his mask…Karasu had internalized his power and as a result, made himself a giant time bomb.

"For all of you who need to step back…I'd do so now…" he muttered to his teammates without letting his eyes leaved the ring, "He's going to blow."

A loud, maniacal laughter echoed eerily through the stadium as Karasu flung back his head and cackled into the air. He raised his hands out in front of him, and almost instantly energy began to crackle between his fingertips. It built up until it resembled a glowing orb in his hands—and continued to grow even after that.

Toguro smirked, "He really is insane, isn't he? Without any loyalties, he'll blow up everyone in this stadium if he thinks it will help…"

As the orb of energy continued to grow, Yoko raised his hand in front of him to shield his eyes from the piercing light. Karasu laughed again as he suddenly jumped into the air; surrounded still by the blinding aura as it wavered around him with a foreboding power.

"He's…turning himself into a human bomb!" Koenma exclaimed suddenly as it occurred to him.

Yoko's eyes narrowed darkly as he glared up through the light resonating from above. The look in his opponent's eyes was completely fanatical while a glint, resembling a lust for blood, continued to flash over his gaze.

But then, his maniacal laughter let out once again as he turned his head towards the silver-haired kitsune below him.

"READY OR NOT, KURAMA—I'M COMING FOR YOU!"

Team Urameshi cried out suddenly when Karasu went into a spiral as he dive-bombed towards the stadium…yet more specifically, towards Yoko.

The fox demon gritted his teeth and braced himself—

_--She held out her hand and grinned, "Kurama-kun!"--_

Yoko's eyes widened for the briefest instant—but he was suddenly no longer visible.

The explosion ripped furiously through the stadium as Karasu collided with the ring. There was a blast from one side of the arena where nearly half the wall exploded away; taking many of the tournament's spectators with it. Dust and smoke shielded the ring from view, but those who could see could only make out the crumbling remains of the arena floor.

While the smoke continued to clear, Karasu's shadow hovered alone on top of the remains of the ring. Giant boulders of rubble stood around him from the ceiling that had been blasted away.

Karasu's eyes flashed as he tucked his hand into his pocket, "Oh no…look what I've done; I've lost my favorite toy…"

But the apparition's gaze flickered suddenly towards the outer barrier of the arena. His eyes narrowed slightly when he noticed a certain pile of rubble shifting

Koto gripped her microphone excitedly, "Oh-hoh! What's this everyone? That foxy fox Yoko has disappeared once again—and we're left with our original Kurama!"

The akage shoved a large hunk of rock away from him with a grunt. He panted heavily as he shakily made it to his feet. There was a brief pause, but he soon staggered before he was able to regain his balance once again.

"Wait just a damn minute!" Kuwabara shouted suddenly from the sidelines, "That potion was supposed to last fifteen minutes! Dammit, I'll beat the punk Suzuka to the ground the next time I see him!"

Kurama gritted his teeth as he tried to take a step forward. A shot of pain raced through his arm and caused him to cry out. He winced while his eyes continued to glare at Karasu still standing inside the ring.

…He had calculated wrong somehow…

The redhead narrowed his eyes; _the effects must have weakened each time I tested Suzuka's potion…damn, that's what I get for not being more careful—_

Karasu suddenly laughed, "Sorry to disturb your train of thought…but, shouldn't you be praying? After all, you are about to meet your creator!" he cackled again, "You can ask him why he flawed you so, Kurama-kun!"

He gritted his teeth and growled softly under his breath. And on instinct, his hands clenched into fists angrily.

Kurama then slowly reached behind his head and whipped his hand forward; revealing a single rose that he held delicately between his fingers. His hand trembled violently as he held it out to his side.

Energy trickled along his arm towards the flower and beads of sweat formed along the redhead's brow.

Ahead of him, his opponent smirked, "Be careful Kurama-kun, you've become weak; even you're most basic attacks are useless…You'll hurt yourself if you keep trying this…" his grin widened when he saw the redhead grit his teeth furiously, "Now, now…you should just make it easy on yourself and for the both of us and give in…"

The rose in his hand glowed dimly with his energy and the energy it had gathered from its surroundings—but without warning, the petals burst from the stem and fluttered to the ground. The akage's eyes grew wide as he stared, nearly horrified, at the twig he held in his hand.

"What…?"

…So he really was that weak…

He gritted his teeth again and roughly tossed the stem aside. In the same swift motion, he suddenly charged towards the stage.

Karasu blinked in surprise, but not without a hint of amusement as well.

The redhead jumped into the air and flipped back on the arena. Without hesitating, he raced towards the apparition and looped around him; instantly throwing a kick at his face. The apparition jumped backwards to avoid the blow and lifted off into the air.

Kurama clenched his fist and quickly followed after; slicing at his opponent with his hand. Karasu was just barely able to maneuver out of the way of the attack…but not quickly enough that the redhead wasn't able to cut several strands of his hair.

Both fighters landed back on the arena floor and hopped backwards several paces to steady themselves. But only a short second later, the akage went after another assault on his opponent.

He threw punch after punch at him, but Karasu continued to dodge his attacks. The redhead swiped his leg at him, but the apparition easily jumped back out of its reach.

"Aw man!" Koto cheered through the microphone excitedly, "Kurama's launching a full blown assault on Karasu but blondie's dodging each punch! I can't take it anymore—I need some blood!"

"Dammit, he's not getting one hit out of him!" Kazuma shouted angrily.

But Hiei narrowed his gaze, "Because he has a plan, baka…he's moving in a calculated manner; he's not _trying_ to hit him…"

Karasu smirked in amusement at his opponent's attempts. And stepping out of the way of another one of his attacks, the apparition raised his hand just inches away from the akage. Kurama however, realized what he was beginning to do and clenched his fists fiercely.

Then he suddenly charged again.

"I will not be afraid of something I cannot see!" he shouted furiously.

The apparition suddenly hurled the force of invisible energy towards the redhead…but Kurama somehow found a way to avoid the blast and jumped away from it. He hurtled over the orb of energy and directly in front of Karasu.

He blinked in surprise at the redhead's agility—but had no time to react however, when Kurama suddenly blew him backwards with the palms of his hands.

Karasu skidded backwards from the force. It finally came to the point where he had to make himself stop several yards away from where he had started.

The redhead was breathing heavily by now as he lowered his arms.

His opponent however, did not seem amused now by his little trick. The apparition glanced down at his chest where a tiny bubble of blood began to form at the tip of a single pinprick in his flesh.

"Really, Kurama-kun…" he began slowly, "Must you stoop to such a low form of attack?" slowly, he withdrew the seed hiding within his chest and held it between his fingers to show to the redhead, "You're really losing your tact with tricks like these…"

The seed in his hand suddenly combusted and his gaze darkened.

"…I think I'm done playing games…"

Kurama gritted his teeth and took a voluntary step backwards—

Only to suddenly have a trap spring up around his leg.

His eyes widened in horror as his head snapped backwards. _What the hell?_ His mind raced frantically while Karasu chuckled darkly from in front of him

"You should really watch your step, Kurama-kun…"

The redhead furiously gritted his teeth as he attempted to free himself from the trap, but he froze in horror suddenly when he realized that one of Karasu's bombs was hovering dangerously close to his knee…

It didn't even occurred to him that he was now able to see his opponent's weapons again—

But he suddenly screamed in pain as the bomb exploded. Kurama's eyes grew wide as he staggered forward; a spray of blood shooting out from his leg and smoke billowing up around him. The trap released him and he fell to the arena floor; sprawled out almost lifelessly.

His breaths came out in gasps as he shakily pushed himself off the ground. The redhead shuddered dangerously as he arms threatened to give way to his weight, but by some way or another, he carefully raised himself off his knees.

"Dammit, Kurama!" Yusuke suddenly cried towards the ring, "Be careful!"

The akage blinked weakly as he glanced around him. He felt a sudden sense of foreboding race through him when he realized that Karasu's bombs were now hovering around him. There was no means of escape; as far as anyone was concerned, he was trapped.

Karasu was laughing beside himself now…

"Like I said, Kurama-kun…I'm tired of playing games…"

And with the flick of his wrist, another explosion erupted into the air.

Kurama screamed again as one of Karasu's bombs blew up directly on his abdomen. But even that wasn't enough. Over and over again, the bombs drove themselves at the akage until he was almost no longer visible beneath the veil of smoke and blood that materialized around him…although his cries of pain were most definitely audible over the explosions

But the bombs were relentless. Driven by his opponent's will, they thirsted for his blood…and would not let up until Karasu had quenched that thirst. Kurama staggered while the explosions continued; he felt blood running along his legs and arms, and the horrible burning sensation that ripped at his flesh.

Smoke billowed out from his wounds as he swayed dangerously on the spot. The redhead's body reeked of scorched flesh and the constant flow of blood…and his cries of pain were frozen in a silent scream.

Blood dripped onto the ground below him, creating a crimson pool as he suddenly dropped to his knees. Kurama's arms fell out in front of him to steady himself, but by now his breathing was ragged almost to the point where he was unable to breathe at all…

Karasu watched the akage with a glint flashing in his eyes, "Your hair is a bit damaged Kurama-kun…" he told him softly as he took several steps closer towards his opponent, "…Human bodies are so frail…"

He was breathing heavily now, but the apparition appeared to take great delight in watching him suffer.

His gaze wandered to his opponent's head, "Your hair…it's like that fiery spirit I admire. That's why I left your beautiful face unharmed…" his eyes never left his little victim, "I may not be able to keep you, but I will always have the memory of your face to give me comfort…"

The apparition paused a moment, as if a thought had just occurred to him, and he smirked again, "…Although…_she_ had that same fiery spirit too, didn't she Kurama-kun?" he wondered suddenly and took pleasure in watching the akage's reaction; knowing already how he would respond, "It would have done my soul wonders to watch her fight as you have…to struggle and fight to live. I did mean what I said before; she had such an erotic cry…I just wanted to make her scream myself…"

Kurama clinched his teeth furiously, "Shut…shut up…"

"Oh…don't worry Kurama-kun…" Karasu assured him softly, "…I still adore you the most…"

The redhead's fists clenched beneath him and his eyes flashed dangerously, "DON'T USE YOUR TWISTED WORDS FOR HER!"

Shakily, Kurama suddenly rose back onto his feet; eyes glaring at the apparition standing in front of him. His gaze flickered briefly towards the tiny wound on Karasu's chest where his blood was slowly beginning to dry…

But it was all he needed…it was more than enough for a blood-thirsty plant…

His gaze became hooded all of a sudden…_one more…one more plant should do it,_ the akage glanced down at his bloody hands, _but that might be easier said than done…_

The redhead gritted his teeth a final time, "…I believe that you couldn't have been more wrong about my lack of tact, Karasu…"

The blonde-haired demon eyed him in amusement—but that soon turned to malevolence as he held out his hand in front of him, "…And _I_ believe, Kurama-kun…that this match should end."

Kurama's eyes darted frantically around himself where the bombs were immediately closing in on him.

Explosion after explosion erupted along his body. The akage's screams of pain dying away beneath the blasts that filled the air. Blood splattered around him and onto the ground below while the horrifying sensation of burning flesh stretched over his body.

His entire front side became drenched in the crimson liquid and steam hissed from his open wounds.

In another instant, Kurama suddenly fell forward; streams of his blood trailing out behind him…

He felt his body collide with the arena floor…

…But there was nothing else…

As if the pain was so intense that it felt as though there was none at all.

…He was simply drifting…

"Three!" the announcer's voice seemed distant from him… "Four!"

_--"Kurama-kun!"--_

Kurama saw her smiling at him…and waving, as if there was nothing wrong…

_--"Kurama-kun, we're all waiting for you!" she laughed and smiled again, "You're so lazy, you know that?--_

The akage groaned suddenly and his fingers folded weakly into his palm.

"SEVEN!"

He couldn't delay…he couldn't hesitate any longer. And at a painstaking speed, he raised himself off the ground with his arms. The redhead gritted his teeth in determination as his eyes glared fiercely towards Karasu.

…He had to kill him…

…Even if it was at the cost of his life…

Inwardly, the redhead smiled to himself bitterly, "Now…" he whispered, "…at least I won't leave her alone…"

He closed his eyes slowly…

…_Live, Mai…_

But then Kurama's eyes suddenly shot up towards the apparition in front of him. His fingers dug deep into the arena floor below him and his eyes narrowed dangerously.

Karasu's eyes glinted maliciously as he raised his hand out in front of him. Sparks of energy crackled between his fingers until another green orb pulsed within his palm.

"Farewell, Kurama-kun…"

Something suddenly flashed over his gaze as he hurled the attack towards his opponent.

"NOW DIE!"

Kurama gritted his teeth furiously—but now an enormous amount of energy exploded out around him. There was a blast of air that erupted with it and whipped around the akage as the fierce aura swirling around him pulsed wrathfully.

He gripped the arena floor beneath him; letting out a rage-filled cry.

And all of a sudden, from the aura surrounding him, a plant suddenly burst forth; charging dead on towards Karasu.

It drilled through the apparition's attack, causing it to implode on contact, but the plant continued to race forward. The akage watched uncertainly while his pain seared through him, and blurred his vision.

_I may die…but at least it will end in a draw—_

Karasu's eyes suddenly grew wide in agony…

…His face froze into a silent scream of horror as he stared down towards his chest…

And protruding from his previous wound, pumped a single plant; drinking deeply from the blood of the apparition's heart.

Karasu's hands shook above it; as if he was trying to pull it out…but his body would not allow him to move any further…

As the plant continued to suck out his very blood, the rest of it slowly began to creep forward towards the blonde-haired demon. And ever so steadily, its leaves quietly wrapped themselves around his body; constricting little by little until there was nothing left beating within his body…

The apparition fell backwards onto the arena floor…his eyes staring blankly up at the ceiling…

…And a single trickle of blood seeping down the corner of his mouth…

…But Kurama wasn't moving either…

An eerie silence swept over the stadium. Juri stood uncertainly near the center of the ring; glancing between the two fighters as if unsure whether or not to count.

"It looks like both Karasu and Kurama have taken each other out!" Koto exclaimed through her microphone, "I guess this match really will be a—wait a minute!"

The redhead's hand twitched slightly; his fingers testing themselves carefully. His eyes opened slowly…and he waited for his vision to clear. He saw the tile floor beneath him and the fuzzy outline of his hand; blinking, he shifted to a new position to lift himself off the ground.

He blinked again in confusion; realizing suddenly that he was alive.

_But…how…?_ He wondered weakly to himself, _I gave up all my life energy for that attack…_

His eyes widened suddenly when a thought had occurred to him. Suzuka's potion…

Each time he had taken it, more and more of his original state came back to him…giving him more power. It was the reason he had survived, then; the power he had gained from his demon form had given him enough strength to endure his attack…

"Well I guess Kurama really _is_ the winner for this match!" Koto declared while the akage lifted himself weakly off the ground.

Hiei however, narrowed his eyes as he caught sight of the opposing team across from them…

…It made him suspicious that neither of them seemed worried about their defeat…

"Kurama! You crazy son of a bitch!" Urameshi called to his teammate as he ran into the ring to help him, "Jeeze, thank God you didn't die out there—!"

"I…I'm sorry, Yusuke…"

The detective blinked, "What? Why the hell are you apologizing?"

He winced as he raised himself to his feet and then shook his head slowly, "…I should have lifted myself sooner…"

Yusuke grinned reassuringly, "Ah, don't worry about it; you won, didn't you?"

The akage lowered his gaze for a moment, "…_That_ I'm not too sure about…"

Juri jumped in the center of the ring and raised her hand above her head, "Winner of the first match…

"Karasu!"

…

Urameshi's eye ticked dangerously, "Excuse me?" he demanded as he swiftly confronted the announcer. Juri eyed him distastefully as he threatened her with his fist, "Mind telling me how the hell a dead guy can win a frickin match?" he shouted in her face.

She placed her hands on her hips irritably and pointed towards Kurama, "_He_ was down for ten seconds before Karasu was killed!" she informed him bluntly.

The detective clenched his fist, "Then why the hell didn't you stop the match then?" he ordered angrily.

Juri puffed out her cheeks, "Why you little—!"

Along the sidelines, Kuwabara gritted his teeth, "What kind of twisted ruling are they giving here? I don't remember Kurama being down for that long—that bastard Karasu was dead long before that!"

"Eh…?" Koto blinked as someone placed a videotape in front of her, "Hold on just a minute, folks! It looks like we have our evidence right here!"

She quickly popped the tape into the VCR in front of her and pressed a button. Above the stands, the giant screen flickered as scenes from the fight began to flash across the monitor. It replayed Kurama being bombarded with explosions—then swiftly fast-forwarded to where he was along the ground. A timer appeared at the top of the screen and began to count down.

As the time began to run low, Kurama was seen sending his final attack spiraling towards Karasu. And the instant the plant made contact with the apparition, the clock stopped:

10.14 seconds.

"Wow, this is a first, everyone!" Koto said through her mic, "For the first time in the history of the Dark Tournament we a have a winner who's dead and a loser who's…not…" she finished, suddenly sounding uncertain of herself.

Toguro smirked smugly as he folded his arms over his chest. Along his shoulder, his elder brother cackled under his breath at team Urameshi's misfortune.

"BULLSHIT!" Yusuke shouted furiously and whirled back towards Juri. He was clenching his fist, "Fine," he growled, "You just keep going by your stupid rules…because next time we're going to make sure we win…"

He went back to Kurama and helped him to his feet. As they were walking back towards the sidelines, Juri's face turned a bright red.

"Err…JERK ASS!"

-:-

a/n: eh, I'm done for right now…(I've basically been at it for three days straight to finally update…)

I'M SORRY IT TOOK SO LONG! I've had summer reading to do and my cousin was just over last week so I had absolutely NO time for this…

Hopefully all my other updates will come much quicker; I'M ALMOST DONE WITH THIS FIC! T.T

Then it's on to the next one!

Hehe anyway…

Karasu always weirded me out in the series, so that kind of explains why I had him call Kurama 'Kurama-kun' since it's a more affectionate term since Karasu has that little 'crush' on him…

ANYWHOS! Until next time, mi amigos!


	33. Wielder of the Dragon

DISCLAIMER: I don't own any YYH or any song lyrics I might use—but all my original characters are mine.

a/n: T.T you guys don't hate me that much do you:sobs:

Though I guess most of you are out on vacation or something (…but that's not what my hit count says :shifty glances: …)

Hehe, but it's alright; I'll continue this fic either way (I just want to make sure that all of you are still right behind me, alright? HUGS AND KISSES ALL AROUND!) So I expect more love for the next chapter, LoL…

Cookies to my reviewers!

Little Sakura 87: Maaaaaaaaybe….hehe, don't worry, you don't think that I'd make a sequel without Mai, did you?

BlueWater26: AHHHH! ANOTHER READER! SWEET! LoL (I'm quite over-active right now…though the cause is unknown…) Hehe, but thank you for your compliments! I'm SO glad that you like my story! Please keep reading!

Fangimation: Whoa! Calm down! LoL, I'm just glad you're still reading—welcome back! You're still loved girl, don't worry about a thing! Peace and Luv homie!

Shadowkitsune7: Aw! Thank you! And You got it! That's why I'm updating as fast as I can; so I can get on to the devious twists I have for the Chapter Black saga—MWAHAHAHA!

Umeko Saito: sad scene…? Hm…I don't recall putting in a sad scene—but that just must be crazy kitkat : ) LoL and thank you so much for your dedication—of course you get some extra cookies!

NOW for the rest of you readers—

I expected more from you! T.T

LoL, just kidding—I LOVE YOU ALL!

_Thoughts_

_Forever Fornever II_

:Wielder of the Dragon:

Kuwabara scratched the back of his neck and glanced awkwardly around his teammates, "Well…at least we're all still alive…" he said, trying to make light of their situation.

From across the ring however, a malicious laughter greeted them. Team Urameshi turned, only to find the elder Toguro leering at them; his eyes flashing a dangerous red as he pointed a jagged finger towards them, "Fools, enjoy it while you can—because even if all of you do survive…my wish would be for the death of all of you!"

But Urameshi clenched his fist, "You just keep talking, you son of a bitch! 'Cause my wish'll be to get enough muscles to rip out your damn throat!"

Beside him, Koenma narrowed his eyes at the detective's statement. He was pretty sure that Genkai would have been hardly amused; it was probably the complete opposite of her desires…

Not to mention Mai would have been unbelievably pissed—the demigod suddenly recieved visions of the guardian beating up Yusuke's bloody corpse and he sweatdropped at the image.

"Well I know what I'd wish for!" Kazuma said loudly, as he flexed his arm—but then paused and blinked, "…uh…well, hmm, wait a minute…"

Hiei snorted, "…As long as we're all sharing, I guess it's only fair to tell you my wish," he said as he closed his eyes calmly and placed one of his hands in his pockets, "…It would be the death of those damn bastards on that committee..."

"I'm afraid you're a bit late for that…" Sakyo informed him coolly, "I believe that Toguro has already taken care of that wish."

Elder Toguro leapt from his brother's shoulder and calmly took a step towards the ring—as if unable to hold in his eagerness to fight any longer…

But he stopped however when he heard the clanking of metal behind him.

The demon smirked, "Ah…so Bui…did you want to take this match instead?" he wondered to his armored teammate beside him. And even though his companion didn't answer him, he continued on anyway, "…Well I guess it's only fair to share…"

He calmly stepped back towards his brother as the other fighter took his place on the ring.

Hiei glanced up towards the arena and then towards the detective at his right. After a moment, there was a small grin that formed along his lips, "…I should tell you that I was really looking forward to fighting that bastard Toguro—but I've decided to leave him to you after what he's done to Genkai…" he added quietly enough so that only his teammate could hear.

Yusuke's eyes widened for a moment; surprised that the apparition knew…but his shock quickly settled into a grin as well, "Thanks, Hiei…"

"Yeah, yeah…" he muttered as he leapt nimbly into the ring.

Juri hopped to the center of the arena and held up her microphone, "Alright everyone—let's get this next fight underway! Standing at 9 feet—Bui from team Toguro!…And at 4 foot 5 without his hair—Hiei!"

Kazuma's face fell slightly, "Oh that makes us feel _so_ much more confident…" he muttered.

But leaning up against the wall, Kurama forced a small grin, "I wouldn't underestimate him, Kuwabara," he warned calmly, "Hiei's proven to us before that size isn't necessarily everything."

"Ready?" the announcer asked, "Then—BEGIN!"

Bui held his hand out at his side instantly. Pulsars of energy resonated from between his fingers and in the air until it began to take shape. A flash of silver caught the apparition's eye as an enormous blade formed at the end of his opponent's axe. The entire weapon was nearly twice the size of Bui—not to mention Hiei.

The shorter apparition narrowed his eyes slightly as his hand gripped the corner of his cloak. His fingers wrapped around the fabric and swiftly tore it off; letting the cloth flutter to the ground.

An uneasy silence swept over the Urameshi team when they noticed bandages racing up and down Hiei's right arm. Scorch marks peaked out from beneath the strips of cloth and there were even places where splotches of crimson appeared.

Kurama's eyes also narrowed when he noticed a single charm dangling from his wrist. It only took a moment before he recognized it as one that would have been used to ward off evil spirits…or as it would appear in the apparition's case, to hold back a certain power…

It made him wonder…had Hiei managed to master the Koku Ryuu a second time?

But he lost his train of thought when Bui suddenly charged across the stadium towards the apparition. Hiei stood where he was and did not flinch as his opponent thundered towards him.

He raised the axe high above his head and swung down—

Only to simply hit the arena beneath him.

The weapon stuck fast in the ground as Hiei appeared across from him on the other side of the ring. Bui paused for a moment as he glanced down at the axe in his hand—but it was long before he gripped it firm and attempted to wrench it free from the ground.

The arena trembled slightly as the block of concrete began to crack away from the others. He held the axe aloft with the stone slab caught on the blade and with a grunt emitting from beneath his armor, he suddenly hurled it directly at his opponent.

Hiei easily took note of this and moved out of its way—but the other apparition was not quite finished. Bui continuously struck his weapon into the earth and drew up the blocks of stone—and then continued on to throw them across the ring. But the apparition simply continued to dodge.

Rubble began to pile up around the arena as the stone slabs crashed along the remaining concrete blocks. Some of Bui's attacks even managed to wind up embedded in some unfortunate audience members.

_I maybe a short target, but this is just sad…_Hiei snorted just as he dodged another slab of rock.

But by now he was getting tired with dodging…

He slid to a halt suddenly and turned to face Bui. The apparition raised his fist out in front of him as his opponent prepared another piece of concrete to throw at him.

The flame of the mortal world was now flaring all along his fist just as Bui hurled the slab of rock across the arena towards him.

Without even moving, he let the block hurtle towards him—and simply let it crumble against his fist.

Hiei's eyes flickered however, when he noticed movement on the other side of the rubble. The blade of Bui's axe hurtled towards him from beyond the bits of rock showering him. He had absolutely no time to block his attack—so he took his only option.

The apparition leapt into the air towards the axe; the fist of the mortal flame burning brightly in front of him. It collided swiftly with the blade and both fighters stood at a standstill.

But at the handle of Bui's weapon, the metal steadily began to crack under the tension—

Until it finally snapped and the blade was sent flying into the stands.

Hiei tucked his fist at his side while the fire of the mortal world died down slightly. He watched his opponent with fading amusement.

"Your aim is as broad as your axe," he informed him mockingly and with a taunting smirk, "So could you at least try to hit me next time?"

For a long time Bui merely stood where he was—and beneath his armor, Hiei noticed him studying him very carefully. But then, the apparition let the stem of his weapon clatter to the ground and his hand slowly began to unclasp the gauntlet on his other arm.

"I believe…" the armored apparition said quietly, "…I have found a reason to finally remove my armor…"

It dropped noisily to the ground; causing the concrete beneath him to shatter. The gauntlet sunk into the arena and Hiei eyed it with a quirked eyebrow.

One by one, Bui continued to remove bits and pieces of his armor; letting each of them crash to the crater now forming in the area floor. There was a deep tension building up within the stadium as the fighter silently removed every piece of his armor…until only the headpiece remained.

"Unlike other warriors, I do not wear armor to protect myself from my opponents," Bui calmly informed him as he began to raise the helmet over his head, "I wear this armor to protect my opponents from my own power…"

Finally, the headpiece clattered to the ground at his feet.

A deep scar became visible in the center of Bui's forehead; stretching quickly down the bridge of his nose and beneath both eyes.

However, with the removal of his armor came the sensational power that instantly began to flood the arena. A green aura hovered in the air around the apparition as he slowly began to rise into the air above Hiei—his opponent however, only seemed vaguely amused.

Bui clenched his fists at his side, "I've warned you already that I have difficulty controlling my power…Let's just see if you can top my Battle Aura's strength!"

The green haze surrounding the fighter began to pulse fiercely now. Hiei narrowed his eyes as he drew his fist back to his side. The flame of the mortal world resonated around his hand while his own power began to build; hoping to match that of Bui's.

Hiei shifted his stance—and in the same swift motion, released the power throbbing at his fist. He punched towards his opponent and followed the attack as it made a direct hit on the opposite fighter. His gaze darkened slightly though, when he noticed the mortal flame dissipate the instant it made contact with Bui's battle aura.

The apparition nonetheless found himself smirking; he always did like a bit of a challenge…

He watched as Bui drew in the energy around him. The other fighter let out a cry as he shot out a bolt of energy towards the apparition.

But even when Hiei moved out of its way, the orb of energy diverted from its original course to tail after it. The shorter demon smirked as he continued to race across the arena; letting the attack follow in his wake and disappearing every now and then to throw him off guard.

At one point however, Hiei managed to disappear entirely from Bui's line of vision. The apparition scanned the arena for his opponent, but could not locate him from below.

Without warning, Hiei materialized in front of the fighter with a smirk across his face. He suddenly disappeared again and Bui's eyes grew wide in horror when he noticed his own attack hurtling towards him.

His cry echoed across the stadium as he was enveloped in his own energy. The fighter was sent hurling towards the ground below and crashed an instant later; creating a gigantic crater in the center of the ring.

Rubble flew up into the air around the arena floor…but as it began to clear, it became evident that Hiei's counter-attack had no effect on his opponent.

Bui smirked, "My attacks are designed to be exactly powerful enough to destroy my opponents. As you can see, that wasn't even enough to scratch me," his tone was casual, almost to the point where it was mocking him, "…You may take that any way you like…"

But the apparition did not appear to be worried, "Well then…" he began calmly as he raised his bandaged arm, "I think that means I should probably step it up a notch…just to make things interesting…"

Pieces of the cloth wrapping his arm began to flutter to the ground at his feet. Hiei seemed to be taking his precious time…as ever so slowly, he started to reveal the black remnants of his last encounter with the darkness flame…

Kurama however, rested along the sidelines and gritted his teeth. It had occurred to him that both fighters had proven their lack of control over their powers. If either of them—let alone the two of them together—were unable to control their energy, the entire stadium would come crashing down around them (not that Hiei would even notice anyway).

The instant the final strip of cloth dropped to the ground there was an explosion of energy. Both fighters squared off with one another; swirling in the dark aura of their powers. Violet flames licked around the shorter apparition…but it was his arm that burned the greatest; the dragon now tattooed along his arm seemingly crawling with each flicker of the flames.

A pillar of Bui's energy ricocheted off the ground and pushed him above the arena. The stadium began to tremble however, as it struggled to contain the energy from both fighters.

Hiei smirked from behind the veil of purple flames as his fist clenched tighter, "The dragon has been pulling at me for quite some time now…it was getting restless; I don't think I could have held it in any longer…" his gaze darkened and he laughed, "Unfortunately it's been a long time since its last meal…"

He brandished his arm in front of him with a glint flashing across his eyes, "You're the next good meal—for the dragon of the darkness flame!"

"If he's not careful, Hiei could kill us all…" Koenma pointed out semi-casually while the violet flames lashed out all across the stadium and even up into the stands, "…But it's not as though he would care…"

Across the ring, Sakyo grinned in amusement, "Well I must admit…seeing this dragon up close is much more interesting…" he commented.

Toguro folded his arms, "You do remember the damaged caused from the last time, don't you? They were fortunate even to find ashes left over from Zeru's body…" he reminded his gambling counterpart as he smirked, "…But he must think this match is important if he's resorted to the dragon…"

The gambler smiled; unmoved as his attention returned to the battle being waged, "Be assured Toguro…

"…Zeru was no Bui…"

Above the stadium, the sky was turning ominous. Dark clouds churned ruthlessly amidst the blood-red sky. While from the stadium, pillars of dark light erupted into the air; emitting from the flames encasing the shorter apparition and causing the stadium to tremble…

But then again…those with more experience would have known that none of this dark energy was emitting _from_ the arena…but rather from the darkest depths of Makai…

As the power began to build up around Hiei, the ground beneath him began to quake. Bits and pieces of rubble flew up into the air around him; mixing in with the chunks of rock dropping from the ceiling as the energy erupted into a pillar and channeled straight through the stadium.

Kurama scrutinized the shorter apparition from the sidelines. It was surprising to him that Hiei had learned how to better master the dragon in such a short amount of time…almost to the point where it seemed a miracle that he was conscious enough to go through with the match.

The apparition clenched his fist and the fire swirling around him flared furiously. He smirked towards his opponent lingering in the air above him.

"Are you ready?"

Bui narrowed his eyes towards the pint-sized fighter…that is, before he smirked as well, "As long as you are—you're crazy to think that you will be able to control a dragon of Makai! They will devour everything here, including you!"

Hiei however, appeared only amused by this statement, "…Then I guess I'm quite insane…"

Hovering in the air, the fighter gritted his teeth; he was really going to use the darkness flame! That idiot was just crazy enough to set it loose! Bui clenched his fists as his mind began to race furiously.

…If he even had a chance, he had to find some way to divert the dragon…send it back towards the wielder at all costs. He gritted his teeth a second time; it seemed to be his only option—and that's exactly what he planned on doing.

The apparition's fist was blazing now with the purple flames. He drew it back towards his side; preparing an attack.

Bui furiously began to build up his energy; causing the battle aura that was swirling around him to resonate fiercely with a horrible pulsation.

Hiei's nails dug deeply into his palm while the last amount of energy was sucked into his fist. He could tell that his opponent was trying to build up his defenses, but he knew also that his attempts would yield fruitless when Bui realized the true power of the dragon.

The flames suddenly erupted; swirling furiously around the tattoo etched across his arm.

He felt the ground tremble beneath him from the power as it grew impatient; desperately trying to break free of its hold.

The dragon along his arm began to crawl restlessly and Hiei clenched his fist a final time. He had given Bui enough time to pray for redemption…it was time to send him to hell where he belonged…

Hiei retracted his fist like the barrel of a gun as he suddenly charged towards the apparition.

And in just another instant, he released the trigger.

"KOKU-RYUU….HAAAAA!"

Bui could only widen his eyes in pure horror as the dragon appeared raging at the end of Hiei's fist. It roared into the sky before it barreled straight towards him; its fiery red eyes blazing and baring its teeth. The flames along its body suddenly changed to blue as Hiei continued to pour energy through it.

Suddenly, Bui's scream echoed through the stadium. His cry however, quickly turned into one of determination as he braced himself against the dragon.

As the beast lifted its jaw, the fighter lashed out and grabbed either end of its mouth. He began to pour a tremendous amount of energy through his attempt—but the dragon would not relent and he was sent crashing through the stands.

The dragon lifted him higher and higher into the air…but somehow Bui found a way to keep it from completely devouring him.

Hiei quirked an eyebrow; slightly annoyed that Bui wouldn't simply give in. But in any case, he raised his arm out in front of him towards where the fighter and the dragon were battling it out.

The earth trembled as another shockwave of energy spiraled into the dragon; forcing Bui back further and further from the stadium.

_--The sickening sound of cracking bone echoed across the fighting arena…_

_Eyes bulging, the one fighter was swiftly brought to his knees while his opponent's fist remained implanted in his skull. Spurts of blood erupted around his nose and eyes; causing a cry of pure agony to resonate around the two fighters—_

Bui gritted his teeth furiously as sweat poured out from his brow. He was suddenly thrown backwards into the cliff-side hanging over the stadium. The fighter cried out in pain as he struggled to keep his grip on the dragon's jaw; he had to send it back…it was the only chance he had…

His battle aura pulsed fiercely—and those below in the stands could feel it throbbing. Some however, were unfortunate to find themselves unable of withstanding such a force…and were instantly incinerated.

The shorter apparition narrowed his eyes…but mostly from pure curiosity as his opponent was being drilled into the stone slab behind him.

_--The bleeding fighter glared furiously, "Why won't you kill me?" he demanded._

_But the other merely smirked; calmly turning his back on him and walking away…_

_Bui's hand dug deeply into the earth below him. That bastard…he had humiliated him and didn't even have the courtesy to finish him off! His anger raged within him. Then **he** would get stronger until he would be able to defeat that bastard once and for all!_

"_Do you hear me?" he shouted at the fading silhouette, "I **will** get stronger! I will defeat you!"—_

Hiei narrowed his eyes further as a power suddenly exploded from his opponent. There were rays of green energy erupting from the cliff-face and showering the arena with bits and pieces of rubble.

From within the light, Bui let out a final cry and threw all his strength against the beast…

Sending it straight back towards the arena.

He grinned in triumph, "Success!"

-:-

The guardian shifted suddenly in her sleep. Her brow furrowed and her fingers slowly folded into her palm...

"...Hiei..."

-:-

Hiei's eyes suddenly went wide. He stood frozen as the dragon hurtled straight back towards him—

In an instant, the dragon crashed into the arena and lifted Hiei into the air high above the stadium while his teammates could only watch in complete horror.

Bui laughed victoriously as he landed back in—what was left of—the arena. There was a bit of uncertainty however, as many of the spectators kept their eyes on the swirling ball of flame hovering above the arena.

Juri was also eyeing the flaming dragon suspiciously—but somehow found a way to make it back into the center of the ring and raised her microphone to her lips.

"Well it seems as though Hiei won't be coming back for a fight anytime soon…" she started slowly, "So I guess the winner of this—"

But almost in unison, the announcer and the remaining fighter widened their eyes. Bui did not need his vision however, to calculate what was happening behind him…his senses were just enough.

The dragon suddenly began to curl around itself; changing from red flames back into blue then back again. But larger chunks of the beast began to break away and evaporate into the air as it finally settled on a blinding blue flame. Below them, the stadium began to tremble while the power resonating from the dragon rattled the earth beneath.

In a flash of light, the dragon disappeared—

Only to be replaced by Hiei yet again.

Bui whirled to face the apparition; his mouth gaping in disbelief and his body beginning to shake.

"How…" he demanded quietly as he watched the steam swaying around his opponent. There was something strangely different about him that he couldn't quite place—but he shouldn't be here! He should have been devoured by that dragon!

The apparition smirked darkly as if reading his mind, "…I have the power of the dragon—because now I _am_ the dragon!"

Kurama grinned, "It seems as though Hiei has finally consumed the dragon then…" he informed his teammates rather casually, "The only way one can gain real control of the Koku Ryuu is if they can trap it within themselves, then they become the true wielder of the dragon."

Kuwabara blinked, "You mean he ATE the dragon?" he shouted, looking startled.

The larger fighter clenched his fist. _Either way…_there was nothing stronger than his battle aura—not even if he had devoured the dragon!

Bui's body shook—and subconsciously took off after the apparition; charging head-on towards him with his fist outstretched.

The shorter demon stood his ground—and didn't even flinch when Bui's fist collided with the side of his face.

Frustrated, the fighter sent punch after punch into Hiei's face…but the apparition simply stood where he was; taking every hit he threw at him. As a last-ditch effort, Bui caught his opponent by the waist and threw him into the air—swiftly following after him. As he began to fall, the fighter slammed his knee into Hiei's back, picked him up again, and tossed him into the arena floor.

Dust flew up into the air and Bui landed a few feet away from the crater, panting heavily.

But his eyes grew wide in astonishment when Hiei revealed himself, unscathed, from within the cloud of dirt and rubble.

"…I-impossible…" he whispered as his fist suddenly clenched in his fury and he gritted his teeth, "IT'S IMPOSSIBLE!"

With that, he took off a second time…but when he finally attempted to punch his opponent, he found his arm immobile.

His eyes widened further as Hiei gripped his fist.

He saw something flash across the apparition's eyes—and just an instant later, screamed out in agony as a blinding flash of energy swept out from around the demon. Sparks of electricity crawled along his arm; bringing him to his knees.

"You should have known better than to underestimate the power of the dragon…" Hiei muttered as his grip tightened, "…You're useless…"

In his free hand, traces of energy began to form into a crackling orb of energy. Bui suddenly screamed again as the apparition shoved the attack into his body; sending him shooting into the air.

Hiei vanished from sight and appeared only a moment later trailing after the other fighter. A hushed awe raced through the crowd when they realized that the apparition was now surrounded by the very aura of the black dragon…almost to the point where he really _did_ look as though he was the dragon; the slithering, flaming body following behind.

The demon was suddenly directly behind Bui—and the fighter's eyes grew wide once again in sheer horror at the presence following him.

But Hiei did not waste any more of his time. The image of the Koku Ryuu disappeared from sight as the apparition drew the energy directly into his fist. The blue flame swirled around his arm as the power grew—and just before it shot out towards the other fighter.

Bui hurtled straight downwards and directly into the stands. Dust and rubble flew up into the air around him as a crater formed beneath his body.

A moment later, Hiei landed beside the crater and watched emotionlessly as his opponent lay at its base, unmoving.

He heard Bui sigh, "…I failed…" he whispered as Juri began her count from far below, "…I reached my very maximum power…but it still wasn't enough…"

The apparition said nothing.

Bui went silent…as if waiting for something. When nothing happened, he turned his attention back towards his opponent, "Go ahead and kill me…"

Hiei merely snorted as the announcer hit 'six'. Turning his back on the fighter, he leapt nimbly back into the ring.

"Hn…If you want to die, go kill yourself," he called calmly over his shoulder, "I don't take orders…especially from those I defeat…"

"Nine…annnnnd TEN!" Juri called, "Winner of this match—Hiei from team Urameshi!"

The apparition regarded the announcement impassively as he made his way back towards the sidelines. He was shaking slightly, but that did not seem to face him.

Kuwabara eyed the demon cautiously, "Uh, wait, this is a no-dragon-man area, okay?" he told him.

"That was awesome, Hiei," Yusuke congratulated as the apparition passed him (as well as ignored his friend's previous statement).

The redhead began to back away slowly, "…Yeah…awesome…" he repeated, "Uh, why don't you go about twenty yards that way and fight the rest of them?" he said, gesturing towards the remaining Toguro brothers.

Hiei snorted, "That's against the rules now, you cretin. Besides, my attack expired…" he added casually.

Both Kazuma and the detective blinked, "Expired?" they chorused, nearly in horror.

"I don't know if your brains can imagine it," the apparition continued coldly, "But this attack drained a good deal of my energy…" he yawned suddenly as if he were trying to stay awake, "I'll require some hibernation to get it back…Think you can manage finding a safe place fro my body where it won't get stepped on?"

Urameshi blinked, "Did you say 'hibernate'" he asked suspiciously.

"Fancy word for being lazy," Kuwabara muttered.

Hiei swayed abruptly as he pointed at the two of them; his eyes drooping sleepily, "Listen to me as closely as you can, you two…I'm trusting you against my better instincts only because I have no other choice…" he staggered, "Take care of the Toguro brothers. If I wake up and we've lost, I swear…I'll kill you all…"

The apparition suddenly fell backwards. His teammates blinked when they peered over him and found him snoring.

Kurama tried to stifle a fit of laughter while Yusuke and Kuwabara leaned over the apparition's unconscious body.

The detective laughed, "Well that's Hiei for you—He faints, but he still has time for threats…"

Beside him, Kazuma was studying the demon carefully, "Hold on…So nothing we do will wake him up…?" he wondered curiously.

Even Koenma found himself grinning in amusement as the redhead 'subtly' took out a magic marker, "Not long ago he was on a streak of terror…If he had had this power then, it would have been disastrous. Now, it has become our asset."

…

"Can I give him a mustache?" Kuwabara wondered.

-:-

a/n: alrighty, sorry it was so short (but for some reason, I was never too impressed by this fight—though the Hiei-eating-the-dragon thing was pretty cool I gotta admit)

Anywhos, this is probably going to be the last update I'll have for at least a week:

I'm heading over to my grandparents' house on Sunday—but I promise I'll be working on the next chapter!

Hehe, I don't care what people say—Kazuma's such a sweatheart XD So I'll be working extra hard on the next update!

Kuwabara: YAY! I'm loved!

KitKat: (glomps)XD


	34. The Shadow of Elder Toguro

DISCLAIMER: I don't own YYH (or any lyrics that might pop up throughout the story), but Mai and all my original characters are mine.

a/n: T.T I'm gone for an entire week and all I have is two more reviews when I get home?

Eh…but then again, most of you are probably on vacation and such—but if your not I would really appreciate it if I could get a review from some of you.

YAY KAZUMA! After I lovingly pour out my writing skills on Kuwabara in this chapter—it's on to the anticipated final match! And then on to the Chapter Black Saga!

**EXTRA** cookies to my devoted reviewers!

BlueWater26: I don't think it was the finals that were disappointing…just that I didn't think Bui was a very interesting character…(maybe it's because I prefer more sadistic villains like Karasu and the Toguro brothers, and Sensui…(besides, what kind of name is "Bwee"?))

Shadowkitsune7: He's my homeboy alright! (I'm just sad he doesn't come up very much after the Chapter Black Saga) Well, I hope this chapter is to your liking!

Umeko Saito: Ha, don't worry about it! By the time the final match rolls around…it'll be all my original work! (Especially in the Chapter Black Saga…man, that's gonna be a pain-in-the-ass to keep up with all my little plot-twists)

Fangimation: LoL, all in good time…all in good time XD Haha, you'll just have to see, won't you?

PS: Don't ask me how Mai is able to sleep through all this (Yusuke knocked her out pretty badly—almost like when Yomi and Urameshi were fighting during the Makai Bujutsukai (he was out for about a week…but then again, that was mostly because Yusuke wore himself out . ))

_Thoughts_

_Forever Fornever II_

:The Shadow of Elder Toguro:

A quiet breeze dusted across the floor of the darkened room; causing the curtains the billow inward towards the bed being used.

There was a soft scratching coming from the door until it eased open. Hywein's head poked through the opening and mewed into the darkness. Her head quirked and one of her ears twitched as she padded into the room. She mewed again when she leapt onto the bedside.

The spirit beast blinked and nudged the sleeping girl with her paw, "Nuu…?"

-:-

"Jeeze…Hiei and Bui sure did a number on the arena, didn't they?" Koenma mentioned as he scratched the back of his neck and eyed the desecrated remains of the ring.

"Yeah…" the detective said absently, "So what the hell are we gonna do now?"

"Maybe this means they'll have to call off the rest of the tournament!" Kazuma said, sounding hopeful as he laid a hand on Urameshi's shoulder, "If they can't replace the ring, then…"

He trailed off suddenly. Something prickled at the back of his neck and he felt the words catch in his throat. The redhead whirled swiftly to face the opposing side of the arena…only to find the elder of the Toguro brothers watching him maliciously from his brother's shoulder.

"_Little chance of that, I'm afraid…" _he heard the voice echoing eerily through his mind, _"Just accept the fact that you're going to die very…very shortly…"_

Kuwabara started suddenly when he noticed the elder Toguro's eyes flash an unpleasant red—

"Ah…Folks, it looks as though there's going to be an intermission until the committee is able to solve the issue about the state of the ring…" Koto said into her microphone as she read off of a slip of paper; cutting Kazuma loose from Toguro's mind-grip.

"Dammit…" Yusuke muttered, "…it figures I guess…" and he restlessly shoved his hand into his pocket. For a brief moment, his eyes flickered downwards; it wasn't that he was entirely pissed over delaying his fight with Toguro…but rather he was afraid that with each passing fight, there was an even greater chance that Mai was on her way to the stadium…

He snorted inwardly, _Stupid bitch…_

With their luck, she would run straight in the middle of one of their fights…

_Her eyes suddenly grew wide…and a flash of pain crossed over her face._

_Mai's vision blurred fiercely as she stared up at the detective; her hand weakly reaching up towards him…_

"…_ke…"_

_Urameshi reached out his arm and caught her as she fell. With one hand holding the guardian off the ground, his other was balled into a fist that was steadily glowing in a light blue light._

_His gaze hardened and became hooded…but that didn't stop several tears from running down his face._

"…_I'm sorry, Mai…"_

_The detective was swept into a silence as he cradled her body to him—_

Yusuke's eyes shot upwards suddenly; allowing the memory to vanish from his mind. Without realizing it, his fist had balled up into a fist and he felt his nails digging deeper and deeper into his palm. He loosened his grip slowly.

"Let's hope they hurry their asses up and come up with a plan…" he muttered, then more loudly; "Right, Kuwabara?"

The detective turned to face his friend, but froze abruptly when he noticed the redhead planted firmly in the ground…

Or at least as firmly as he could get while shaking like that.

He saw beads of sweat forming along his brow and racing fervently down the bridge of his nose. Urameshi stopped and watched his friend uncertainly.

"Kuwabara—?"

"I-I'm going back to the locker room…" Kazuma said suddenly as he turned back towards the entryway behind them.

"—Why don't you just tell us how really frightened you are about dying, Kuwabara…"

The redhead whirled again to find the elder Toguro standing calmly between himself and Yusuke. The detective seemed equally shocked to find the apparition materialize so quickly on their side of the arena, but Toguro paid no heed to him; his attention was firmly locked on Kazuma.

Despite Elder Toguro's height, there was something about him that sent uneasiness through him…

The Toguro brother smirked, "I really must commend you for how much stronger you've become over the past months…

"Yo! Jackass, get back to your side of the arena already!" Yusuke shouted furiously at him, but he ignored the detective.

"…Unfortunately…there's still a great difference between your power and mine…

"So enjoy dying, Kazuma Kuwabara…"

-:-

The redhead remained secluded from his other two teammates. Koenma and Yusuke caught one another's eye and could tell that they were both thinking the same thing; Kuwabara definitely wasn't looking forward to his upcoming match…

"What about Genkai?" Kazuma wondered aloud suddenly; catching both of their attention. The rest of team Urameshi remained silent as he gritted his teeth in frustration, "Dammit, if she was here then I would be fighting Sakyo…"

Urameshi tensed slightly, but didn't lift his eyes from the ground. He leaned up heavily against the wall behind him and closed his eyes.

Kuwabara glanced up quickly, "Koenma!" he said suddenly turning towards the demigod, "You fight Toguro and I'll take on Sakyo!" but Koenma sent him a glance that told him that was not going to happen anytime soon. The redhead frowned, "And if Urameshi here hadn't KO'd Mai, _she_ probably would have been fighting Toguro instead of me! Errr…That's it! I'm pulling Genkai out of bed—!"

"Give it a break, Kuwabara…" Yusuke muttered; cutting him off, "…Genkai isn't going to come and bail us out…"

The detective trailed off and his eyes flickered towards the doorway. He lifted his head slightly when Shizuru and Yukina appeared.

"Hey little bro," the brunette called casually as she popped a cigarette from her mouth. The aqua-haired apparition beside her stood timidly as they entered the room. Keiko and Botan—by process of elimination—were most likely still sitting in the audience somewhere…

Shizuru headed over towards her brother and stood in front of him questioningly.

After a moment she placed a hand on her hip, "You better not embarrass yourself in the next match, got it? I can't stand it if I have to watch you make a fool of both of us…"

Kazuma said nothing, and refused to even look at her.

The brunette narrowed her eyes and suddenly gripped him by the collar, "Hey, are you even listening to me?"

"…Yeah…yeah, I'll try not to embarrass myself, Aniki…" he said absently as he stared off at the ground.

Shizuru blinked (but not because he had just called her 'older brother') and noticed the sweat beading at his brow and his body shaking uncontrollably. She let go of his collar and stuck her cigarette back in her mouth as she turned back slowly towards the door.

"Ah! Kazuma-kun, would you like something to drink?" Yukina asked briskly as she replaced his sister in front of him.

He glanced up at the sound of her voice…but didn't smile, "I don't need a drink to be happy…but with the power of your love on my side, I'll be able to beat Toguro in less than a second!" he assured her as he forced a hollow grin.

The ice-apparition watched him worriedly for a moment, but then nodded, "…A-alright…we'll be cheering for you, Kazuma-kun!" she called as she hurried after Shizuru. And as they turned into the hallway, she waved enthusiastically over towards the redhead.

It was silent as their footsteps receded down the hallway. Then Kuwabara swiftly ran his hand through his hair and shuddered.

"It…It just keeps getting worse…" he said quietly towards the ground, "Usually when I see Yukina, I feel unstoppable…"

He grew quiet for a long time as another bead of sweat trickled down the side of his face.

"…Now I'm just more afraid…"

The room grew silent once again and Kazuma ran his fingers through his hair a second time.

But without warning, the room suddenly shuddered. The members of team Urameshi staggered and several clouds of dust dispatched themselves from the ceiling above them. There was a deep rumbling coming from beyond the stadium.

"What the hell?"

In unison, they raced from the locker room and down the hallway until they broke through the entryway into the arena.

Yusuke skidded to a halt and was quickly followed by Koenma and Kuwabara. His eyes grew wide as he suddenly detected the source of the commotion.

"Shimatta…"

With a rhythmic crashing, a single figure was seen trudging through the edges of the surrounding forest. Along their back was the ring from the old stadium; towering over the rest of them easily.

Kazuma gritted his teeth and clenched his fist as he watched Toguro heading towards the arena…

This was _not_ the type of motivation he would have wanted…

-:-

Kurama glanced up from his book. He smiled slightly when he noticed Hiei beginning to stir on the bed next to his chair.

"Ah…we were beginning to wonder when you'd wake up…" the redhead said casually as he returned to his book. He flipped a page just as the apparition raised himself off the bed.

He rubbed his head in frustration, "Dammit…where the hell am I now? And how long have I been out, fox?" he demanded turning towards his companion.

"The locker room…" Kurama answered simply. He looked up from his book and paused, counting briefly on his fingers, "And…you've been sleeping for roughly six hours, I believe…"

"SIX HOURS?" the apparition repeated and nearly jumped out of the bed, "Well who the hell won the tournament?"

"That, I can't say…" the redhead told him calmly, "It's taken us awhile to reorganize after you leveled half the stadium during your fight with Bui. But since Toguro carried back the ring from the old stadium, we should be finishing this tournament shortly…"

-:-

Kazuma glanced nervously down at the Trial Sword in his hand. He was shaking just enough that he couldn't even get it to focus, and he cursed inwardly.

_Come on, pull yourself together…_he told himself in hopes of lifting his spirits, _It's just another fight…_He paused as he thought it over…_against a crazy-ass, sadistic…Ah crap…_

He gritted his teeth and felt his body beginning to shake again, _No I'm a real man, okay! The only way I'm leaving that ring is if he's beaten or if I'm dead! Now I just gotta find a way to make the first one happen…Hopefully this Trial Sword can do the trick…_

"Hey…" he suddenly felt Yusuke's hand clap over his shoulder, "Good luck out there—oh, and try not to get yourself killed…" he added almost as if it had just occurred to him, while still managing to present his friend with an encouraging grin.

The redhead clenched the sword hilt in his fist and nodded, "Right…yeah thanks, Urameshi…"

"Fighters ready?" Juri called through her microphone as Elder Toguro and Kuwabara stepped onto the ring. Kazuma watched as the apparition smirked in his direction, and he noticed with a jolt that something malicious flashed across his eyes.

The announcer raised her hand above her head, "Then let the third match of the final round—" she dropped her arm, "BEGIN!"

Kuwabara clenched the hilt in his fist and glowered. During the entire tournament everyone thought he was just one big joke (except for Yukina that is…), but at least with his Trial Sword they were all going to get one rude awakening.

_Always expectin' nothing out of me…_he muttered inwardly, and then let out a short laugh, _Just makes for a better surprise…_

He held the hilt out in front of him. Toguro however, continued to stand calmly on the other side of the ring; his hands resting calmly in his pockets.

Kazuma began to channel his energy through the Trial Sword until energy began to crackle along the hilt. He gritted his teeth and his knuckles grew white as his fist clenched tighter around the handle. The bolts of electricity were spreading to the rest of his body and were beginning to pull energy into the hilt of the Trial Sword.

The redhead let out a cry suddenly as his power exploded out from around him. A flash of light quickly followed and wrapped around the sword while energy continued to crackle around his arms and abdomen. There was a blast of wind that was continuously wrapped around him along with the bolts of power entwining around his body.

Now, the hilt of his Trial Sword was illuminating with his energy now that the blade of the sword had been created. Kuwabara was panting slightly now…but at least he was looking slightly more confident about himself.

He switched his stance in preparation to attack Toguro and brandished the sword out in front of him.

"If there's any way to bring you down, Toguro—I'LL FIND IT!" he vowed loudly.

He suddenly charged towards the apparition. The energy crackling along his skin followed him as he raised his sword above his head. Kazuma let out an angry battle cry as he hurtled towards his opponent…who only continued to stand where he was.

But even Kuwabara with his spiritual awareness failed to notice the tile splitting beneath Toguro's feet…

-:-

Hywein cocked her head suddenly when her master stirred. There was a look of distress along her sleeping features as her brow furrowed and she slowly opened her mouth…

"…Kaz…uma…"

-:-

Kuwabara blinked suddenly.

His sword had gone right through him…and Toguro hadn't even _tried_ to move out of the way! So now nearly half of his body was dangling on the other side of his Trial Sword and some few tiny strings of flesh were still connected however to his other half.

The redhead's eyes grew wide, "That…really got you, huh…?" he said in astonishment.

Above him in the stands, Botan also blinked, "What…? I thought Kuwabara was dead for sure!"

Shizuru calmly let a puff of smoke drift into the air above her, "Honestly, so did I…" she admitted as she scrutinized the ring below her.

Beside the two of them, the aqua-haired apparition pumped up her fists unexpectedly, "Well I didn't!" Yukina told the other girls defiantly. The other three just stared at her in surprise.

"Hey…Um, did Kuwabara just win…?" Yusuke asked rather slowly.

Kurama sweatdropped slightly next to him, "I don't know…"

Back up in the ring, Kazuma was staring down at his sword in awe. But his amazement quickly transferred into glee as he stared his sword in Toguro's body.

"I'm really incredible!" he boasted and laughed, "I beat Toguro in one attack!"

Juri closed in on the two fighters and studied the dissected fighter carefully. When there was no apparent sign that he was alive anymore, she turned to address the rest of the stadium.

"And with that, everyone…I do believe we have a—!"

-:-

A small whimper escaped Mai's lips as she stirred yet again.

_KAZUMA!_

-:-

The redhead froze suddenly; his eyes bulging in both shock and pain. He screamed as agony raced through his chest and as he coughed up a spurt of blood…

Five, dagger-like poles had pierced his chest from behind…

"KUWABARA!"

Kazuma screamed again as the stakes writhed within his abdomen…before they sudden wrenched themselves out of his body. He staggered as the energy crackling around him suddenly dispersed and the power emanating from his sword began to fade. The redhead grunted as he fell forward onto the arena floor; causing the Trial Sword to fall from his hand and spiral out of his reach.

From somewhere behind him, came Elder Toguro's insane cackle…

Some three yards away, the tile flooring began crack and the apparition emerged from behind Kuwabara. He smirked maliciously and drew up his hand from beneath the ground; pulling up his little decoy on the other side of the redhead.

The puppet swayed eerily above Kazuma's body. The redhead turned onto his side and stared wide-eyed at the marionette attached to Toguro's body as it bobbed above him.

"You really though you killed me, didn't you Kuwabara? Unfortunately for you, I was able to store all my vital organs underground before your attack…" he smirked cruelly, "You really are a very simple-minded child. It feels so nice to trick you…"

He gritted his teeth as he glared at Toguro's puppet, "…It's supposed to be one on one…" he muttered.

The apparition sneered and the puppet suddenly melded back into his body, "Oh but you should feel proud of yourself…you manage to give me a paper cut…" he told him mockingly as he held up a bleeding finger. He smirked and traced his tongue along the wound; removing all traces of blood…

Toguro tucked his hand into his pocket casually, "…You really should know that as a demon, I retain the ability to move my vital organs anywhere…like so…"

At that moment, half of his face departed from his body and stretched out into the air beside him; bits of flesh still attached to the rest of the body.

He smirked again as he raised a hand out in front of him, "So you'll never know where I might be hiding them…" he informed the redhead as a throbbing mass suddenly appeared within his palm; unmistakably the apparition's heart…

The side of his face mended itself and his heart vanished within his body.

Toguro's eyes flashed when he caught sight of Kuwabara's Trial Sword behind the redhead. He calmly lifted his hand and let his fingers reach out towards the hilt and bring it back to him. The elder brother held it calmly in his hand as Kazuma watched with his teeth clenching.

He smirked, "It truly is an exquisite sword…Did you inherit it from _her_?" he wondered aimlessly.

Kuwabara blinked, "Who…?"

The apparition sneered; obviously leading him on. But nonetheless, he glanced back towards the sword and tossed it casually in the air, "You would think she'd leave something like this for her apprentice…" his eyes flashed suddenly, "…but I guess Yusuke wasn't strong enough…"

Kazuma's eyes quickly flickered towards his teammates as if they held an explanation. But all of them—Yusuke especially—were glaring furiously towards the elder Toguro.

"You…You don't know what you're talking about! Genkai's just sick!" he insisted.

Toguro let out a sickening laugh, "Oh, that's perfectly sad. Your friends have been keeping secrets…"

He took a few strides towards his opponent absently as he raised the Trial Sword in front of him as if he were interested in studying it. But then his cold gaze returned back towards Kazuma; his eyes sneering in delight.

"Genkai is **dead**."

Kuwabara went numb.

"…what…?"

"She's been so for two days now…" the apparition continued gleefully.

The redhead was shaking now…but it was no longer from fear. He couldn't feel, he couldn't see…it was as if a sudden light had gone out around him.

"No…No, it can't be!" he insisted desperately, "Why didn't I see that?"

--_"Give it a break, Kuwabara…" Yusuke muttered; cutting him off, "…Genkai isn't going to come and bail us out…"--_

His eyes widened even further as his body trembled. Kazuma's vision blurred fiercely as he clutched at the ground beneath him. Anger was beginning to swell up within him and his knuckles turned white. His head whipped towards the sidelines…and although none of his teammates would look at him, it was all he needed to know…

"…I…I see…" he muttered darkly, "Everybody knew about it but me. They kept me out on purpose…" he gritted his teeth furiously, "They…They didn't think I could take it—!"

He was cut off suddenly as another wave of agony raced through him. Kuwabara screamed again as Toguro's fingers abruptly punctured the left side of his chest.

The redhead cried out in pain as he dropped to his knees. His teeth gritted furiously as he tried to stand again, but the elder of the Toguro brothers suddenly twisted the fingers residing within his chest. Kazuma screamed as blood spurted out from his wounds and he weakly wrapped his hand around the apparition's limbs; trying to pry them out of his body.

"Don't cry Kuwabara…It's not your fault the old wench couldn't stay. Go and question her yourself if you don't believe me…Another few inches and I can pick out your heart!" Toguro smirked as he tossed his Trial Sword over his shoulder, "…What a sad life when you're friends aren't even straight with you."

Kazuma grunted again as he felt the apparition's fingers writhing around his heart. He clenched his teeth and shut his eyes forcefully.

Elder Toguro sneered as he suddenly ripped his fingers from the redhead's chest; causing him to cry out in pain. He placed his bloodied hand back into his pocket and raised his other.

"I'm going to tell you a little story, Kuwabara…" he said slowly as his free hand began to mold into a new shape, "Once upon a time…there once lived a great fighter who's beauty was unmatched by anyone…"

His hand formed into a younger version of Genkai and Kazuma clenched his teeth in rage.

"This woman met another fighter by the name of Toguro when they were both young and powerful fighters…" he smirked as the puppet suddenly aged, "But then she grew old and ugly…and no one wanted anything to do with her anymore…"

Across the ring, Toguro's brother clenched his fist at his side and he narrowed his eyes furiously towards his older sibling; closely resembling the same reactions of team Urameshi.

"Then Toguro became a demon…" he continued cockily, "…and she became jealous of him, so she decided to fight him…But she wasn't strong enough…"

He placed his hand beneath his puppet and his eyes narrowed maliciously towards Kuwabara.

"…and she was killed."

Without warning, the puppet of Genkai was pierced by Toguro's hand. Streams of blood stained the stakes driving through her and trickled down his fingers.

The apparition laughed maniacally as Kuwabara's eyes widened in horror.

"You bastard!" Yusuke roared from the sidelines, "She was never jealous of Toguro! He killed her because he could never have her!"

But Kazuma was no longer listening. His gaze had darkened and had become hooded. Slowly, the redhead rose to his feet…but his eyes never made contact with the apparition; yet, there was still a detectable rage emitting from him…

That rage suddenly turned into energy, however, and exploded out around him. There was a light of gold power that was now hovering in the air…

"…I'm gonna kill you, you better know that…" the redhead said quietly towards his opponent.

Elder Toguro laughed, "That's very nice enthusiasm, but you must have forgotten that I have your weapon. I'd give it back…but your helplessness is much more fun…"

Kazuma gritted his teeth and yet he still did not raise his eyes; he would not give Toguro the pleasure, "You're honor-less…" he growled under his breath.

The apparition cackled, "Yes I am! Good thing that's not what this tournament is about!"

The redhead clenched his fists until his knuckles were white, "Maybe honor doesn't matter to your kind, Toguro…but it sure as hell does to me!"

Across from him, the demon laughed once more. His hand lashed out suddenly towards Kazuma; his fingers pointed and aimed straight for the redhead's heart. But before they could even pierce his cloak, Toguro's attack was thrown backwards.

Kuwabara suddenly lifted his head and let out a cry of rage as energy erupted around him. He raised his hand as if he were trying to summon his spirit sword…but instead, blasts of energy charged across the arena towards Toguro.

Blood rushed into the air and splattered across the ring. The apparition's screams of pain echoed eerily against the walls of the stadium as piece by piece, Toguro fell to the ground in the puddle his blood had created.

Kazuma was panting by now as he watched the last bit of the demon fall into the bloody mass. Juri hurried towards the edge of the mess and after a short inspection, raised her microphone.

"One!...Two!...Three!..." she called into the stands, "…Four—! Eh…?"

She stopped suddenly when the mass beside her began to move. On instinct, the announcer leapt back as Toguro abruptly began to take shape once more.

The redhead's eyes widened in horror; even after that…he still hadn't managed to hit any of his vital spots!

Cackling, the apparition formed back into his normal appearance and stood facing Kuwabara, smirking in pure delight…

"…I think I've had enough of tricking you…"

Without warning, Kazuma let out another scream of pain. Toguro had suddenly sent his fingers flying towards him again; this time piercing all but his skull.

The Toguro brother whipped out his arm; sending Kuwabara soaring into the air above the stadium…

He cackled madly as he suddenly swung down with his arm.

"Let me reacquaint you…with THE GROUND!" he screamed up at the redhead.

With a sickening _thud_, Kazuma landed sprawled along the arena floor. He winced in pain as Toguro's fingers continued to drill deeper into him. His body trembled violently as he tried to lift himself up, but the apparition prevented him from doing so.

"Now's your chance, Kuwabara…" he said coolly as he took a step or two closer towards him, "…to cry and beg for your life just like your dear friend Genkai did right before my brother killed her!"

Kuwabara gritted his teeth, "Liar!" he muttered, "Genkai would never beg!"

"One!...Two!..." Juri began, but cut herself off when Toguro turned to face her next.

"I have other plans for this one…and they don't involve him living," the apparition informed her, "…So don't waste your breath counting for him—"

"Excuse _me_ but the rules say that I _have_ to count!" the announcer argued heatedly.

But Toguro's gaze was cold and malicious, "Unless you want to find a spot next to him…I think you should shut your mouth…" he muttered darkly.

Juri paled and nodded; quickly stepping away from their fight.

The apparition then turned back towards his victim and laughed at his helplessness, "You know…even if you_ could_ stand up, you wouldn't be able to pinpoint my organs…" he smirked and demonstrated by letting one of his eyes travel down towards his thumb, "…I can never seem to keep them in the same place for long…"

Elder Toguro let out a jaded sigh as he lifted his free hand. It morphed quickly until it finely resembled a blade that was nearly half his own size…

"It's a pity I played hooky the day we dissected frogs…" he told Kuwabara absently as he study the blade and smirked; turning back towards the redhead, "Because my mother always wanted me to be a surgeon!"

Kazuma started suddenly as the apparition charged him. There was no where for him to dodge with Toguro still pinning him down with his fingers and his Trial Sword was out of his reach—

His mind froze as he caught sight of the hilt on the other side of Toguro. He gritted his teeth as the demon hurtled towards him with his blade outstretched and ready to bring down upon his head…

And without giving it a second thought, Kuwabara suddenly slammed his hand onto the tile flooring. A charge of energy sparked out from his palm and swiftly raced across the floor of the arena straight towards his Trial sword. The energy made contact and the hilt was suddenly lifted into the air as if by an invisible hand.

Toguro froze as his senses prickled. He whirled, only to find the sword hovering in front of him. His eyes grew wide and he screamed suddenly as the sound of ripping flesh echoed through the stadium. It was followed shortly by the sound of Toguro's body falling to the ground.

Finally freed from the apparition's grasp, Kuwabara stumbled to his feet after taking hold of his Trial Sword once again. After a pause, he turned towards Juri wearily.

"Hey, do you think I can get a count here?" he wondered and jerked a finger towards the bloody mass behind him.

The announced nodded, "Uh, right…" she raised the microphone to begin the count, "One—!"

"Heh…sorry to disappoint you, Kuwabara…but I'm afraid there's no need for that…"

Kazuma whirled to find Toguro sneering at him from the ground.

"You are quite the slow learner, Kuwabara…" the apparition informed him coolly, "I thought we already established that my body does no like to go to pieces…so it doesn't…"

The redhead was gripping the hilt of his sword angrily now and he clenched his teeth, "Too bad," he muttered, "It's a look you deserve…"

_Dammit…_he thought_…this is not working; I have to change my strategy if I plan on finding those vital parts of him!_

He glanced down at the sword he was gripping in his hand. His brow furrowed in thought and he suddenly sent a wave of energy flowing into the hilt…

But this time, it no longer resembled a sword nor was it in its usual golden light. Instead, the color flickered until it faded into a deep purple that began to resonate with energy almost instantly. And now, it had become round and flat, just like…

"I thought about what you said before, Toguro…" Kazuma said darkly, "And you're right, I got no way of knowing where your vital organs are hiding…"

He saw the apparition's eyes grow wide in horror at the weapon he held in his hand.

"So I'll just pound everything at once…" he finished.

Toguro shook his head furiously, "N-No! STAY BACK!"

"And since we're sharing here, my mother always wanted me to be an exterminator," he continued, "So now…it's time to make her proud of me"

Kuwabara drew back his weapon as if he were readying to pitch a baseball. Energy continued to flow into the orb of violet light and he suddenly hurtled across the ring towards Toguro.

"SPIRIT FLYSWATTER!"

The apparition's cry of pure terror screeched throughout the stadium…

And Kazuma brought it all down upon him in one giant blast.

Energy erupted throughout the arena and Toguro's cry was cut short suddenly. Rubble flew up around Kuwabara's weapon and dust erupted out into the stands.

When the rubble had finally cleared and the redhead's weapon receded back into its hilt…there was only a small crater left of what used to be Elder Toguro. Kazuma straightened slowly and panted; trying to regain his breath as Juri hurried to the center of the ring.

She raised the microphone, "And finally! With nothing left of Elder Toguro…the winner of this match is Kuwabara from team Urameshi!"

But it didn't even seem as though Kuwabara had heard this statement as he silently made his way off the ring and back towards the sidelines.

Yusuke grinned, "Hey, it's about time you won a fight, huh?" he greeted him.

Kazuma however, was less than amused.

The detective's expression dropped when Kuwabara swiftly hooked him in the jaw. Their other teammates stared, but neither of them appeared to believe that Yusuke didn't deserve it. The detective staggered from the blow a few feet away and gingerly touched the bruise that was now beginning to form.

"Kuwabara…?"

He suddenly gripped him by the shirt, "I guess I'm just one big joke to you all. Well this joke's got feelings!" he shouted furiously, "Genkai meant a lot to me too! Did you all just sit around and laugh about how clueless I was? Is this how you get your kicks Urameshi? Answer!"

Yusuke had looked away by now and the rest of their team was silent…until Kurama spoke up.

"…Yusuke didn't tell any of us, Kuwabara," The akage said quietly, "We were all left to find out for ourselves…"

The group was silent for a moment longer before they heard the detective sigh.

"…I didn't tell anyone…and neither did Mai…" he confirmed softly and clenched his fist at his side, "I was stupid believing that if I didn't say anything that meant she wasn't really dead…So I felt as though I _couldn't_ tell anyone…"

Kazuma had released him and he was staring off absently at the ground.

"I'm sorry, Kuwabara…that you had to find out this way…" he continued quietly

"…But I can't apologize for dealing with my grief the only way I know how…"

Urameshi's eyes narrowed suddenly. Without another word, or another glance back, he walked past Kuwabara towards the awaiting ring before him—

"Hey, Urameshi…"

The detective stopped, but didn't turn towards Kazuma.

There was a pause as the redhead's eyes narrowed.

"…Win this…"

Yusuke smiled, "Right." He called over his shoulder.

On the other side of the arena, Toguro made a move to follow the detective's lead into the ring…but was stopped when Sakyo held out his hand for him to wait.

"I hope you won't mind if I might go first?" he wondered, but didn't wait for an answer. He moved past the apparition and onto the arena towards Juri, spoke to her, and she nodded; handing him her microphone.

The gambler turned to address the stadium.

"I'm going to make one last bet before the final match begins…" he said, "Obviously, I will be betting on team Toguro, being its owner…and I am offering my life as a wager," he announced calmly, "I also propose that whoever wins this fight receives two points and thus win the tournament…"

A wave of hushed whispers swept over the crowd, but they were quickly silenced when Sakyo began to speak again…but this time, he seemed to be speaking more towards Koenma than anyone else.

"I admit it would seem rather anticlimactic for the tournament to be decided by two alternates…And I'm sure everyone would prefer to have the tournament won by its true stars…" He now turned towards Koenma himself , "I will offer the bet both to the owner of team Urameshi and the tournament committee…"

The demigod narrowed his eyes towards the gambler but shouted towards him nonetheless:

"I accept your wager."

Yusuke whirled back towards the sidelines, "You what?" he repeated, flabbergasted, "What the hell are you thinking? What if I don't win?"

But Koenma only offered a grim smile from behind his pacifier, "Wholly assured, if you don't win I'll already be in a heap of trouble…" he became serious however after a pause, "I can't possibly beat Sakyo in a fight…and as the leader of Rekai, I can't just fly off in a jetpack while he does whatever he wants with the money he's made."

Juri took back her microphone from the gambler, "The tournament committee will take ten minutes to decide on Sakyo's proposal!"

Hiei snorted and folded his arms over his chest, "That seems rather pointless," he muttered, "Don't they realize already that there's no one left alive on that committee?"

-:-

Hywein paced restlessly across the bed; stopping occasionally to pester the unconscious guardian. She mewed loudly as she hopped off the bed and padded towards the window. Her tail swished across the frame and she cocked her head back towards the girl before she jumped once again back onto the bed.

She mewed again.

Mai's hand twitched and she curled up slightly as she let out a sigh.

"…ass…"

-:-

"It appears as though Sakyo's proposal has been accepted!" Juri announced as she stood in the center of the arena, "This is the final match, everyone! All or nothing for each team!"

On either side of the ring stood Toguro and Yusuke…both with seemingly opposite expressions along their faces. The apparition was smirking in anticipation, while the detective kept his eyes narrowed towards his opponent.

There was an awe-filled silence that swept through the stadium as the audience watched their two star-fighters square off—

But the tension snapped suddenly when a familiar, fanatical laughter filled the stadium.

A grayish puddle began to form near the center of the arena. Little by little it began to take shape, until the elder Toguro stood once more within their midst.

He let out another cackle as he turned to face the rest of the audience, "Before my wounds were fatal, I liquefied and seeped between the tiles," he informed all of those who were shocked to see him, "And then I waited to hear that the betting was closed just so I could emerge triumphantly!" he turned back towards his brother, "WE'RE GOING TO BE RICH!"

But his sibling said nothing towards this.

Elder Toguro turned with a sneer to face Yusuke, "You'll never defeat the Toguros unless we want you to…" he laughed again, "Just as it was with dear old Genkai…It's a shame you couldn't have cradled her in your arms when she was young; she was a real wildcat back in those days—and not just in the heat of battle, if you know what I mean!"

Yusuke noticed that Toguro was growing angry from behind his brother; his fists were clenching as well as his teeth. The detective even found a grin forming along his face at the sight of him…

The apparition turned to face his sibling, "What will it be brother?" he asked eagerly, "Any weapon you want! A dagger, a sword, a semi automatic machine gun? As long as we work together this competition is in our grasp!"

But he froze when he found his brother standing directly behind him and his expression fell slightly.

"Aniki…" Toguro growled darkly, "…This fight does not involve you…"

Without warning, the elder Toguro was suddenly sent flying by one of his brother's kicks. He screamed as he hurtled towards the sky, but was able to catch himself on the roof of the stadium.

His eyes blazed furiously, "I'm your older brother! And you just kicked me, you son of a bitch!"

The apparition hurled himself back towards the ring; his hand outstretched in preparation to drill his brother right there and then.

But Toguro's eyes flashed beneath his sunglasses as his hand curled into a fist.

"My older brother is dead to me…" he muttered. And an instant later, Elder Toguro's scream of pain cried out within the stadium as his brother sent him hurtling into oblivion.

Toguro did not appear the least bit phased by what he had just done and turned back towards the detective. He raised his blood-stained fist in front of him and fingered the crimson liquid.

"This will be a fair fight, Urameshi…

"…And we'll be fighting for real this time…"

-:-

a/n: HA! I'm finally done!

Hehe, but now all of you are going to have to wait another week for an update cuz I'm leaving for Cleveland on Saturday for another week! (not to mention I have to finish essays for summer reading, so that decreases your chances of an update too…)

WAAAAAAAAAA! YYH is officially over T.T I just watched the last DVD/episode and it was sad (not the show itself…but just the fact that it's actually over…)

Anywhos! Next chapter is the final match! HURRAH!

Peace and Luv!


	35. Yusuke vs Toguro

DISCLAIMER: I don't own YYH, but Mai and all my original characters are mine (I also do not own any lyrics I may use—unless I say otherwise)

a/n: AHAHAHAHA! Yes, I am back everyone! (And luckily, I'm pretty sure I'm done with my essays! WAHOO!)

Anywhos, I really want to get this chapter (as well as the rest of the Dark Tournament fic…) up soon…cuz I'm _REALLY _excited about the Chapter Black Saga—I'm already concocting many ideas XD

…man, I'm crazy today…

Cookies to my reviewers!

Little Sakura 87: LOL, yes…that is true (Hehe, but he's living in a fishtank…) AAHHH! I love you too! XD

Shadowkitsune7: Hehe, Yeah I always thought that was an interesting name for a weapon…but it's just so like Kazuma-chan!

Umeko Saito: T.T I'M SOOOOOOOOORRRRY! I totally forgot T.T I was just trying to make a connection that people could understand! Kitkat hasn't been thinking straight for a long time…GOMEN NASAI!

Seeyu: LOL, I guess that's another plus to my story; you get a recap of the episodes!

BlueWater26: Aha! Thank you (I always thought so too XD)

MidgetCake: AHHHHHHH NEW REVIEWER! Hehe, well I'm glad you liked that chapter! And…well, surprisingly, I think Kurama/Mai will show up more in Chapter Black and the Makai Saga o.O but that's only because of certain…things…(shifty eyes)

Fangimation: Well…she's not _technically_ able to _hear_ them…it's more of that Spiritual Awareness thing ('cept it's not as strong or as frequent as Kuwabara's…but I guess it also helps that she's a guardian and she has that "sixth sense" about things…)

Alright! On to the next chapter!

_Thoughts_

_Forever Fornever II_

:Yusuke vs. Toguro:

"So…this really is the end…"

Genkai cracked open an eye and glanced towards the former guardian. She folded her arms calmly as Kira stared up at the screen in front of them.

The older woman assumed she had recovered at least somewhat (seeing as though she had finally spoken after those three or four hours of silence). But there was still the sense about her that she didn't accept the fact that either Yusuke was doing this without his guardian…or that Mai was supposed to die…

It was a moment before Kira lowered her head towards the ground and clenched her fingers into her palm. Her hand was shaking furiously from the folds of her kimono.

"He's…he's so selfish…" she muttered softly, "…Mai was willing to go with him—but he just took that away from her without realizing how much it meant…for her to be there protecting him…"

There was an angry silence that followed from the guardian as the muffled sounds of the distant stadium buzzed through Koenma's office. Strands of her crimson hair fell over her face and Genkai withheld a snort of amusement; the two guardians really did have similar attributes, especially when they were this emotional…

Genkai's amusement died however as her gaze traveled to the screen above their heads.

_She stood beneath them with her hands raised above her head towards the detective and sweat perspired off her brow. She bit her lip forcefully …_

_Mai clenched her teeth almost painfully and forced more of her energy towards Yusuke._

_He appeared to be receiving it and struggled further up the cliff-side. Her body began to tremble violently, but she continued to hold on. She shut her eyes and gritted her teeth; she couldn't hold on much longer._

_She cried out in pain and suddenly collapsed to the ground._

The older woman sighed, and with a sense of regret, turned her eyes away from the monitor. "He's one big asshole that's for sure…" she said while somehow lacking her normal sarcasm.

Kira seemed to notice this, but inclined her head only slightly towards her.

"…It would have been better if he had just let things be…" Genkai told her solemnly and grew silent for a long time

"…He just doesn't realize how _much_ he needs her…"

-:-

"Aw man, we're not late are we?" Rinku asked irritably and placed his hands over his head as he traveled between his two taller companions. They were making their way towards the stands hurriedly before they missed the rest of the tournament.

"If we aren't, it's no thanks to the drunken biggie over 'ere who sold our tickets for a coupla pints…" Jin muttered under his breath as he shot the violet-haired apparition a look.

"Oi, we're standing here aren't we?" Chuu argued defensively, "Hah, nah seriously! I hafta check!"

Touya closed his eyes in slight annoyance "Yes, we are…At least that guard was kind enough to let us in…"

Chuu grinned, "And I didn't even hafta break the second leg!"

Rinku rolled his eyes, "Whoopdi-doo…You're just lucky he was fat."

Apparitions quickly made room for them as the group mad their way down the stairs. Once they were settled the crowd calmed down and returned their attention to the ring.

"Mm?" Jin's ear twitched curiously all of a sudden. He was looking towards the one side of the stadium where the rest of team Urameshi was standing in anticipation.

They were missin' a fighter…

Nah—scratch that—they were missin' _two_ fighters, he decided when he didn't recognize the older looking male standing with the rest of the team.

So who was…?

He blinked, "Hey," he said turning towards Touya and pointing, "Where's the one lass Urameshi was wit' earlier?"

The ice apparition was frowning slightly, "That's a good question..."

-:-

Yusuke took a step forward and paused.

His eyes flashed up towards the apparition in front of him and he calmly moved around Toguro a second time. The demon's sunglasses glinted as he turned to follow the detective around the ring. A deadlock rose up between them; eyes glaring at one another in a showdown.

At his side, Urameshi clenched his fist until his fingers were digging fiercely into his side.

This was the end…

_Her vision blurred fiercely as she stared up at the detective; her hand weakly reaching up towards him…_

"…_ke…"_

Toguro's hand reached up towards his jacket and calmly slipped the first button through its hook. He slipped the forest-green coat over his shoulders and let it drop to the ground…

"Will you look at that?" Botan muttered as she glared down at the apparition, "You know he just thinks he's so great…"

Keiko frowned as well, "But he's not."

"PUT YOUR SHIRT BACK ON!" the older brunette shouted towards the arena.

Kazuma growled under his breath and pumped his fist, "Oi, Urameshi! Don't be intimidated by that stupid steroid half-naked freak!" he yelled towards the detective.

Beside him, Hiei narrowed his eyes and Kurama clenched his hand.

_Don't blow this one Yusuke…_Koenma warned mentally as he frowned.

Juri moved between the two fighters and raised her hand above her hand, "This time's for real! Are you guys ready?"

Neither of the fighters said anything. Their eyes locked dangerously however, and the announcer took that as her cue.

"Okay then—!

"BEGIN!"

The apparition smirked all-too familiarly, "Well done Yusuke…" he congratulated in a slow, steady drawl, "At last the two of us fight again. Only this time things are going to be different for you."

Urameshi narrowed his eyes towards the demon but said nothing.

"I'm not throwing this fight for anyone," he finished in hardly more than a mutter and began to raise his hands out in front of him, palms upward.

"_Heh_…Good," the detective followed with a similar grin, "Cause now, for me…its personal…"

There was suddenly wave of _yoki_ resonating from Toguro's palms. Yusuke saw the apparition's eyes flash wrathfully from behind his sunglasses and a muscle jerk in his jaw. He had gotten him angry, that was for sure…

"You don't think this is personal for me too?" he demanded with a rising fury behind his voice. The veil of energy was around his entire body now; pulsating in a heavy, purple glow as his anger mounted, "I'LL START WITH 80 PERCENT!"

With the clenching of his fists, Toguro's power erupted around him in one giant force.

The violet chi coursed over his body as a deep growl resonated from within his throat. Yusuke saw him brace himself against the ground as the earth began to tremble. The detective took an involuntary step backwards as the flesh along Toguro's body began to throb. The veins beneath his skin pounded ruthlessly and continued to fill his body with the energy he desired.

Urameshi's eyes widened. He gritted his teeth as he took another step backwards…

The apparition's _yoki_ flared out around him now; swaying steadily around his body and whipping out around the rest of the stadium.

He could feel it standing there…

It was the pounding sensation that was echoing through his chest—the very essence of Toguro's power was drifting around him in a blue haze as the demon himself rose high above him with his newly formed strength…

There was a sudden cry of terror that raced out through the stadium…followed by another, and another.

Toguro's chi was overflowing into the stands; obliterating any and all of the weaker demons within the crowd and leaving behind nothing but the dried and crusted remains of their own blood.

Hiei narrowed his eyes as he caught sight of those demons in the stands behind him, "Amazing…Toguro's _yoki_ is so strong that it's literally melting the flesh off the weaker apparitions…" he said as another cry of agony swept over the arena.

But beside him, he heard Kurama breathing heavily and turned, "They're not the only ones…" the akage panted and clutched his abdomen, "I can't take much more in my present state…"

Kuwabara gritted his teeth as he staggered backwards away from the energy floating around him, "Not…a problem! I can handle it!"

Despite his words, the demigod had stepped in front of the other three members of team Urameshi, "Well actually, no you can, Kuwabara…" he informed him as he spread his hands out at his sides, "Now all of you, stick behind me; the least I can do is put up a barrier…"

-:-

Yukina cried out as an apparition beside her neatly exploded. She bit her lip in worry as she glanced back towards her friends.

_If his energy can have this kind of effect on hardened demons, there's no telling what it might do to ordinary humans!_

"We have to get you out of here and quickly—!" she cried and turned towards the three other girls, but only blinked when she realized that the penguin-like spirit beast had already created a barrier around the group.

She blinked again, "Ah…Puu-san created a barrier…?"

-:-

_What the hell is wrong with me…?_ Urameshi gritted his teeth as he continued to watch the apparition in front of him. The sounds of those screaming in the audience had grown silent to him, despite the fact that Toguro's energy was still whipping across the stands.

_As strong as this guy is, I really should be getting scared. Like pissing my pants scared...But I don't feel anything. In fact, I'm starting to creep myself out with how **not** scared I am…_

He clenched his fist in anticipation.

_They say with an excruciating pain, your body goes numb…_

_Maybe it's the same with fear…_

Yusuke gritted his teeth and slowly shifted his foot back behind him—

And Urameshi suddenly charged towards the apparition.

He skittered across the arena floor towards Toguro rapidly, almost to the point where his feet hardly touched the ground. The detective catapulted himself into the air above the demon and drew back his fist; landing it straight into his opponent's chest.

But in the same motion, Toguro brought up his own fist and had simultaneously hooked the detective in the jaw.

A blast of energy whipped around the two and the apparition's _yoki _burst out around the arena.

Yusuke gritted his teeth when he felt his attack lessening on the apparition. Toguro was gaining the upper-hand quickly—and without warning, he suddenly sent the detective hurtling backwards across the arena. Urameshi dusted the top of the tile flooring before he swiftly caught himself with his hand. He launched himself back at the apparition.

When he tried another punch, Toguro suddenly vanished from his sight. The detective started, but not long afterwards, felt the hairs on his neck prickle. He whirled and found the demon hurling another attack towards him.

He cried out as he maneuvered out of its way, and Toguro's punch collided with the ground. Yusuke flipped around the apparition's arm and lashed out with his leg; landing Toguro a kick in the face.

Kurama's eyes widened slightly from the sidelines, _I can't believe the extent to which Yusuke's technique has improved…it's incredible…_

Toguro hurled another punch towards the detective, and again Urameshi was able to dodge. His attack however, smashed into the ground; sending a giant shockwave hurtling into the stands. There were demon cries that soon followed as those who were once standing in that area were obliterated entirely.

The detective landed off to the other side of his opponent, but was soon sighted. Toguro whipped around and slammed his fist again into the ground; the shockwave hurtling towards Yusuke. Bits and pieces of rubble flew up into the air around him. One of the jagged rocks suddenly flew up and sliced him across the cheek. He staggered slightly, but made it out the way of the attack in time—

—!

Urameshi's eyes flickered suddenly. He gritted his teeth and changed his stance so that his hands were placed, wrists together, out in front of him. The apparition was charging towards him now with his fist cocked at his side.

"What?" Kazuma gaped at the detective in horror, "Are you crazy? There's no way in heck that you could block his straight-on punch!"

He planted his feet in the ground in hopes of enduring the blow as he glared at the oncoming Toguro. The apparition's fist lashed out suddenly at the detective—

—Only to stop mere inches from Yusuke's fist.

Toguro's eyes flashed from beneath his sunglasses before he slowly drew back his punch.

"I see the way you look at me, in judgment…" he muttered darkly towards the detective, "…But you have no idea what its like, do you? To lose someone you love?"

Yusuke narrowed his eyes as he allowed himself to lower his arms. The group of girls in the stands behind him watched the pair curiously.

"No," he said quietly, "And I never will…because I won't ever let that happen…"

-:-

"—URAMESHI!"

The guardian was panting when she shot out of the bed. Her eyes widened as she stared around the darkened room and suddenly found herself shaking with a cold sweat along her brow.

_What…?_ She sat there and tried to remember…

_She started suddenly when she realized that Yusuke was crying. His tears traced her lips sadly and she tasted the salty liquid in her mouth…_

_But then she abruptly felt him pulling her away and lowered his gaze a final time…_

"_This…maybe the last time I'll be able to see you…" he whispered._

_She blinked at him; still trying to recover from her shock. But when she finally did, she forced an unconvincing laugh, "What are you talking about, Urameshi?" she wondered with a poor excuse for a smile, "We're going to beat Toguro and win the t—"_

"_Please…" he murmured, "…Live for me, Mai…"_

_The guardian blinked, "Wha—?"_

Mai blinked, but her eyes swiftly narrowed.

"That…_that_…

"**_JACKASS!_**"

-:-

Toguro smirked maliciously, "You say that now—"

"Stop it." The detective glared at him furiously as if daring him to say another word, "This is between you and me."

"Whoa!" Koto cheered through her microphone, "Now Toguro has stopped in mid-punch to chat with Urameshi! I wish you could hear what they were chatting about!"

But Hiei clenched his fist in rage, "Those fools!" he muttered, "Why don't they stop dancing around each other and fight? One must never let emotions enter the ring…_that_ was a mistake," he glared across the ring at the two fighters, "I should have known better than to hand this match over to Yusuke…"

The demon centered in the arena narrowed his eyes seriously towards the detective, "It's time…" he growled, "You have something to prove to me Urameshi. Show me that your master did not sacrifice her strength for you in vain…"

Yusuke's gaze darkened, "Right…"

He clasped his right wrist with his hand slowly; his index finger pointed downwards towards the ground.

"I'll show you."

Juri blinked and glanced towards Toguro, who was not moving, "You alright…?" she wondered and then turned towards the detective, "And you? Hm…"

Something flashed across Yusuke's eyes…it was something between determination and rage that now glowed fiercely.

"Following an action-packed beginning, what we've got on our hands here is a good old-fashioned stand off!" Koto shouted, "But now it seems that Yusuke's focusing his energy into that trusty right index finger of his!"

Toguro was not so amused, "So…she didn't teach you any new tricks?" he wondered as his eyes narrowed from behind his sunglasses, "I want to see everything Genkai gave you!"

From the sidelines, Kuwabara blinked, "Hold on Urameshi got somethin' from Genkai before she died, like a gift?"

The demigod beside him nodded slightly, "Yes…but not exactly the sort of gift with wrapping and a bow, Kuwabara. More like _her_ gift you know, what made Genkai special…She gave him the energy she had stored for decades."

He faltered, "How much power did she give him?" he cried.

Koenma shrugged, "I don't know…but I'm guessing it all."

There was a snort of amusement from their side of the arena while Hiei folded his arms over his chest.

"This should be fun."

A mist was suddenly forming around the ring while the two fighters were squaring-off. But at Yusuke's index finger, there were tiny beams of light beginning to draw themselves into it. Little by little, a small orb of blue light sat resonating at the tip of the detective's finger while the _ki _around them continued to flow into the bullet.

Slowly, Urameshi raised his hand out in front of him; the point of his fingered aimed directly towards the apparition standing in front of him.

_Are you watching this, Grandma?_

The bullet was close to being the size of his fist now, but still the detective didn't attack. The orb at his fingertip was pulsing by now with a fierce energy.

"FIRE ALREADY!" Kuwabara shouted furiously.

Toguro's eyes flashed out of slight confusion, _He'll never hit me from that distance—_

"..."

Without warning, Yusuke suddenly dropped his hands at his side; diminishing the energy at his index finger. He was racing across the arena towards the apparition.

_Only four shots left,_ the detective told himself as he neared the demon ahead of him, _And I can't even miss one!_

Toguro smirked now, _He uses his head in battle…I like that!_

Urameshi slammed his fist into the apparition's stomach. Again and again he did so, but Toguro didn't seem to be coming to any damage by Yusuke's blows.

"COME ON!"

The apparition suddenly threw a punch at the fighter below him, but Urameshi dodged the blow and let Toguro's fist land in the pit of the arena sending rubble into the air. But before the detective could even land, the demon whirled and threw another attack towards him. Instead of hitting Yusuke however, the energy generated in his fist flew into the stands and towards a few unlucky demons.

Yusuke dashed out behind the apparition and tried coming in for another punch. But Toguro sensed him and turned; whipping out his leg towards the detective. He just barely dodged the blow as it came inches from his face, but used it to his advantage as he launched himself off of the demon's leg and used his own to kick him in the face.

But the ground beneath his opponent suddenly cracked and flew up at him. Urameshi cried out slightly as the force pushed him backwards and he staggered back onto the floor of the arena..

"What do you say…?" Toguro started slowly, "Let's kick this up a notch!"

The detective's eyes widened when he realized that the apparition was already on top of him. He staggered out of the way just as Toguro's fist slammed into the spot he was just in. But the energy resonating from the blow erupted around the two fighters; blasted also across the entire stadium and into the stands. The arena beneath the apparition's fist was deteriorating rapidly and sending giant blocks of rubble into the air around them. Yusuke cried out as Toguro's _chi_ began to envelope the two of them and he shielded his eyes with his hands.

As the apparition's fist dug further into the ground however, more and more of the arena flew into the air and was quickly followed by Urameshi himself as the blast hurled him backwards. He was soon lost amidst the flying rubble.

Toguro suddenly jumped into the air, following the detective. His eyes scanned the flying debris carefully.

"Come out, come out, Yusuke…"

There was suddenly a flash of movement at his side. The apparition whirled.

A heavy tension filled the air as the rubble moved away from his sight; revealing Yusuke on the other side. The detective was falling upside-down…but also had his finger aimed straight at Toguro.

His eyes narrowed as the orb of light reappeared at his fingertip.

"Rei Gan."

Toguro's eyes widened as the blast roared towards him; the force of the attack even pushed Urameshi back. The apparition cried out angrily as the beam of blue light quickly devoured him and hurtled him across the stadium.

"Bull's eye!" Kazuma cheered.

Koenma stared, "That's a direct hit!" he said in near-disbelief

When Yusuke had landed back down on the arena floor, there was suddenly an enormous crashing sound as the spirit gun drilled a hole straight through the stadium. It was heard crashing through the forest beyond; as if it were never ending and would never come to a stop. As the blue light faded into the distance of the island, smoke began to billow up from the fires now licking at its path.

And it was only a moment later that the sound of Yusuke's spirit gun died away entirely.

The stadium was dead silent…

-:-

Mai suddenly skidded to a halt as she raced out through the hotel doors. Her eyes widened as her head jerked to the side.

_That energy…_

Her shock resided quickly and she furrowed her brow in her wrath.

"That _idiot!_"

-:-

"The usually vibrant crowd looks on in stunned silence. I don't think anyone saw that one coming!" Koto said through her microphone excitedly, "Especially not Toguro who's been blow right out of the stadium!"

A little ways off, a pile of debris stirred and Juri appeared clutching her head, "Ugh…where am I?...And who am I…?"

"Hey lady get up, and snap out of it!" Kuwabara shouted at the announcer, "You've got a job to do! There's a fighter outta the ring and you'd better start countin' like you're always doin' for me!"

Hiei snorted dryly, "Take a moment to look where Yusuke's standing, baka…"

The redhead blinked as he turned back to the "ring" only to find that it had almost literally been blown to smithereens with only its remains scattered here and there across the rest of the stadium. And Yusuke stood right in the middle of it.

"Hey! How the heck _do_ you get back in the ring?"

"In this final battler there will be no boundaries…" Kurama explained darkly.

"The only rule is kill or be killed" Hiei finished.

Botan nearly jumped out of her seat in jubilation, "We won!" she shouted and pumped her fist, "That'll show those nay saying demon fans!"

Down the ways from her, Shizuru stretched leisurely and sighed, "Well that's done! Let's pack up, grab some over-priced souvenirs and forget our heartbreak!"

But the spirit beast in Keiko's arms squirmed restlessly, "Puu! _Puu!_"

Back with the Urameshi team, Hiei snorted and folded his arms across his chest, "Yusuke's much stronger now than I ever imagined a human could be."

Kurama however, frowned, "Yet…Toguro didn't even bother to block his attack…" he told him in confusion.

"If Toguro can escape a blast that powerful unscathed, there's no telling what else he might be capable of," the shorter apparition informed his counterpart.

"Look!" Kuwabara shouted irritably, "Would you stop being a glass-is-half-empty kinda guy for two seconds? Accept it! There's absolutely no way in heck that guys' ever coming back in anything other than an ash tray!"

But while he was talking, the detective had started to make his way towards the mouth of the tunnel newly formed at the base of the stadium. His movements were slow as he walked cautiously closer to the hole and his brow furrowed.

_No…_

It wasn't that easy…

Toguro wasn't dead yet.

-:-

As flames licked at the trees around him, the apparition's hand clasped over a boulder at his side. And when he forced his weight against it, it neatly cracked under the pressure…

He stood slowly and walked back along the spirit gun's path; his feet digging into the ash scattered along the earth. There were flames lashing out at him and feeding on the limbs of the trees nearby, but he seemed oblivious to it all…

-:-

Yusuke's eyes grew wide suddenly and he took a step backwards away from the tunnel. The rest of his teammates froze at his sudden movement and watched the tunnel as well.

From the rays of heat resonating from the earth, a shadow appeared beyond from amidst the flames. Urameshi clenched his fist as the form of Toguro appeared silhouetted against the fiery background behind him. The apparition's hand clasped over the side of the tunnel as he moved back into the arena.

"Is that all you've got for me? I expected more from Genkai…" he growled.

Kazuma staggered and fell over from where he stood with his teammates, "H-he's invincible! That's the only explanation for it!"

The demigod bit down nervously on his pacifier, "That's…not good…" he decided.

"Whoa! Look at it people!" Koto breathed in her excitement, "Toguro has miraculously risen from the dead! Runs in the family I guess. And there's not so much as a scratch on this giant brute, the only difference is his shades are gone! Oh, and what piercing eyes he has!"

The detective clenched his fist furiously as the apparition came to stand in front of him. And it seemed as though Toguro was doing the same…the only difference being that he was not as angry as Yusuke and his stance was different as well.

But without warning, a blast of _yoki_ enveloped the apparition. Urameshi started in shock and swiftly attempted to put up a blockade with his own energy against Toguro's assault. The demon's energy however, quickly overpowered his own and with the sound of shattering glass, broke the detective's feeble shield.

Yusuke staggered backwards and gritted his teeth.

_Dammit! He just dissolved my energy shield with a mere flex of his power! I'm gonna have to throw it into gear if I wanna stick around and get this done…_

Toguro loomed over him; his dark eyes flashing maliciously and in fury, "I was foolish to depend on you rising to the occasion. I wanted to test you to see if you were really strong enough to compete with me…" his gaze darkened, "Obviously, my standing here means that you've failed…So there's no need for me to go to full power…

"I'll finish this as I am."

-:-

"THAT SON OF A BITCH!"

The guardian staggered only slightly as she raced blindly down the path; her anger however, was enough to drive her forward.

You couldn't just kiss someone then knock them out! That was against some sort of kissing-rule or…or something!

She gritted her teeth as she furiously swiped a branch out of her way. Not to mention he never gave her a fair reason for KO'ing her in the first place! If he had some twisted-messed-up theory for keeping her away from the tournament, he was in for a serious world of hurt when she got through with him…

Because if Toguro didn't kill him first,

She sure as hell would!

-:-

o.O Yeah, Mai's pissed off…

And in honor of the last day of summer, I completely devoted my entire day to writing this chapter…

SO YOU BETTER BE GRATEFUL, DARN IT!

LOL, but sorry it took so long to update. I wanted to get the DVDs so I could get a more detailed look on the match and stuff (Seriously, I sat in front of the TV last night taking notes on the dialogue o.O—but that's just how devoted I was!)

Anywhos, I'm gonna go watch that other DVD now!

(Oh, and I also thought about it, and decided Mai probably looks a lot like Hinageshi from _the Poltergeist Report_ except, well, older and taller)

PEACE AND LOVE


	36. Toguro's Full Power

DISCLAIMER: I don't own YYH but all my originalities are mine.

a/n: Dammit, I'm having a bad day…

So I guess it's only right that I drown my sorrows in writing…

(Oh, and if anyone's wondering—I HATE MATH SO DAMN MUCH AND SCHOOL SUCKS ASS!)

UPDATE ON THAT LAST STATEMENT: if anybody cares/wants to know—I'm not so angry anymore! My counselor helped me fix my schedule so I'm in a better math class (hell, I actually understand what they're talking about!) Anywhos…just in case you wanted to know about my life, lol (but school still sucks)

Also!

If any of you still haven't gotten the last YYH DVD I highly recommend it! I admit it is sort of sad watching the last episode—but it's worth it!

Cookies to my reviewers!

Little Sakura 87: Me neither! T.T I swear I sat there in front of the TV for about ten more minutes as if there was going to be another episode (and now you see where I get the title from). Haha, but did you listen to the commentaries/outtakes? I thought those were hilarious (:drool: and wasn't _mazoku _Yusuke from the Makai Saga hott?). Ah but don't worry about this fic, it'll be up for awhile :sweatdrop:

BlueWater26: Ahah, thank you! Here's your update!

Seeyu: LoL, alrighty! And yes she is pissed…I was debating whether or not she should be worried or pissed…I decided pissed would be more amusing, LoL.

Umeko Saito: Haha, well that's a good question…but no, that line was in the show (believe me, I was taking notes, LoL, I'm so lame…) but it would have been funny as hell if Toguro yelled "BAM!" right after that.

Fangimation: That's an awesome rhyme, hehe. And I do believe that part that you've been waiting for will be up, ummm…in the next chapter—or at least the one after that, I'm not quite sure yet :nervous laugh:

Shadowkitsune7: Aw, thank you! And the good news is: I have the next chapter here!

_Thoughts_

_Forever Fornever II_

:Toguro's Full Power:

Without warning, a blast of _yoki_ enveloped the apparition. Urameshi started in shock and swiftly attempted to put up a blockade with his own energy against Toguro's assault. But the apparition's energy however, quickly overpowered his own and with the sound of shattering glass, broke the detective's feeble shield.

Yusuke raised his hands to cover his face as the aura whipped around him. A slice of wind however, and a new gash appeared along the side of his cheek.

_Great,_ he muttered inwardly, _He can dice me up with nothing but the force of his energy…And I couldn't even lay so much as a scratch on him with my Rei Gan!_

The detective snapped suddenly out of his thoughts when he noticed Toguro moving towards him. He braced himself as if waiting for the demon to flex his _ki_ a second time.

"And I thought you might actually be the one, Urameshi…" he growled, "If you had passed my test, I was ready to go full power for you. But there is absolutely no need for you to worry about that now," his gaze darkened, "My total power would be wasted on you…"

Kazuma blanched, "What? He's not at his full power?" he asked in disbelief, "I wasn't aware anybody could get any fuller than that!"

The second redhead beside him frowned, "Do you think there's hope left for him?"

Hiei snorted, but there was a small flicker of fear behind his eyes, "Not really," he answered seemingly calm.

Above them in the stands, Jin and the others watched on in horror.

Chuu gritted his teeth nervously, "If he's that much mightier than our boy, what's that say about us nongs who lost a bout with Urameshi earlier on?"

"Face it guys," Rinku announced to them, "You're just a bunch of lame wad losers."

"Thanks Rinku," the ice master beside him muttered sarcastically.

"And right about now, Urameshi's gotta be thinking to himself: I don't stand the tiniest little chance!" Koto shouted through the microphone as she leaned excitedly over the railing separating her from the arena, "I mean face it, if his enhanced spirit gun can't take Toguro down, what else has he got?"

The apparition shifted his stance as he faced Yusuke. The detective's eyes narrowed dangerously towards him and he frowned…

But it was soon replaced by a smirk as he straightened. He wiped the back of his hand across his bleeding cheek and laughed, "Heh…Guess play-period's over? Oh well, it was fun…"

Toguro's eyes widened, "What?"

The smirk remained as Urameshi raised his left hand out in front of him. His hand moved slowly towards the green band around his wrist and began pulling on it—until it finally snapped. Simultaneously, there was a flash of gold light that appeared around that same wrist.

"Well, for some inexplicable reason, Yusuke has ripped off his left wrist band to reveal a…uh," Koto trailed off at a loss for words, "It's a glowing, gold, bracelet! And might I say, it takes a pretty tough man to wear jewelry in public—Especially at a martial arts tournament!"

Yusuke's hand clasped over the other wrist band and raised both hands about his head. His eyes narrowed as the band snapped.

Another flash of light and Urameshi was suddenly enveloped in the golden glow. "Bracelets" appeared on his other hand as well as his two feet; and they were all connected by a single beam of electricity that crackled between them both.

Toguro narrowed his own eyes towards the detective, "I should have expected…" he mused but not without a hint of amusement, "Spirit Cuffs from Genkai."

From the sidelines, Kuwabara blinked, "I gotta say, that's a pretty sissy fashion statement. Even for Urameshi…" he thought aloud in curiosity.

But Kurama was more stunned than curious, "But why?" he whispered, "Why would he fight Toguro using such a handicap?"

"Easy," the apparition beside him snorted, "It's because he's a cocky fool."

Koenma nodded slightly, "He must have inherited it from Genkai—the spirit cuffs I that is."

"So uh, will somebody please tell me what's going on?"

Yusuke slowly closed his eyes and sighed…

"_Genkai, is it time yet?"_

_The old woman turned towards him as he stood in the mouth of the cave. Her eyes narrowed seriously, "One more thing before I give you your test…" she told him, "Give me your hands. I have to prepare your body…"_

_Urameshi eyed her suspiciously, but did as he was told nonetheless, "This isn't another trick is it?"_

_She ignored him, "Hold still and try not to cry," she said as she began to trace her forefinger along the path of his wrists, "_Prefer et obdura dolor nie tibi proderit olim_!"_

_A path of light had begun to encircle the detective's hands. But when Genkai had finished the chant, the beam had suddenly clenched around his wrists. Yusuke cried out in surprise and fell forward; the weight of his fists holding him down against the floor of the cave._

"_GAH! Dammit you old hag! I don't know what you're tryin' to pull, but I'm not into this kinky stuff!—And you're way too old!" he added angrily._

_As he was talking, the older woman had been walking around him as the detective was beginning to stand, "In your dreams, you big baby. I'm going this for your own damn good. These are spirit cuffs and they'll save your life," she repeated the process on his legs and Yusuke let out a similar cry when those cuffs latched onto his ankles. He swayed dangerously before he was able to regain his balance, "Once again you can thank me later."_

"_Gee, why wait?" he muttered, "Thanks for being a cruel, heartless, domineering old bitch!" and with no luck tried to pull apart the spell._

"_All your muscles won't break you free of this," she said calmly—but the detective's eye ticked dangerously, "Your physical strength tops out as only so much, but your spirit power can reach limitless heights with proper training."_

_Yusuke growled under his breath, "Er, not this speech again!"_

"_Shut up," Genkai ordered, "You must jointly use the energy of the spirit and the body, with each feeding the other, to overcome this obstacle and move our little rear."_

"_Jeeze, alright already. You had me at shut up…"_

_A blue haze began to surround the detective as he closed his eyes. The aura swayed around him with an eerie sort of calm as he slowly pried apart his wrists…and followed shortly after with his feet until they were a stepping distance away from each other; receiving a small grin from the old woman._

"_Okay." He muttered, "I passed that test with flying colors, now get this piece of crap off me!"_

_She glared at him, "You _will_ keep that crap on you at all times!"_

_Urameshi blinked, "Eh?"_

"_That means you are to remain at full spirit power and full physical strength twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week if you want to so much as take a step or pick your nose," she folded her hands behind her back calmly, "Think of it as strapping weights to your spirit energy; the longer they stay on you, the stronger you will grow. Now I'm going to give you a safety word…it'll unlock the spell and release you from the cuffs, I trust you'll know when it's time to use it, Yusuke…"_

The detective opened his eyes.

"Now's a pretty good time, right Genkai?"

He raised his hands above his head so that the cuffs were crackling fiercely together. His eyes narrowed as he clenched his fists.

"**AVITUS!**"

-:-

With a staggering cry, Mai suddenly skidded to a halt. Her feet stumbled around her, but her head shot to the sky where a pillar of blinding light rose out from somewhere amidst the treetops. Her eyes widened despite herself.

"…Urameshi…?"

-:-

An explosion of golden energy erupted out around the detective—but in an instant, it flashed to blue. Yusuke screamed as he flung his head back and his _ki_ began to rupture the very stadium. The pupils in his eyes disappeared as he continued to scream. His energy began to spiral out around him in a giant pillar of light that rose out through the ceiling of the stadium. Toguro braced himself against the mere force of the power coming from Urameshi.

The streams of blue light however, were moving. They morphed and began to take on form until the hazy outlines of a blue phoenix appeared above him.

A screeching cry echoed through the stadium as the beast suddenly lifted off the back of the detective. Its glowing plume trailed out behind him as it circled around the arena. It flapped its mighty wings as the crowd stared on in awe and before it finally returned to Yusuke. The giant bird cried out again as it settled behind the detective and little by little, streams of light detached themselves and were absorbed into Urameshi's body.

Kazuma let out a shout of triumph, "Just feel that! His energy is outta control! There's no way Urameshi can lose this now!"

Koto was squealing in delight, "Oh my goodness! Urameshi's strength is making me feel faint! Who knew he had a surprise like this planned in the back of his head?"

Up in the stands, Touya's eyes grew wide in awe, "His power…it's phenomenal…"

"Agreed so I'd say!" Jin concurred, "When your wind looks like a phoenix you know that you got _something_ big!"

The drunken fighter beside the two gaped, "He keeps getting' stronger! I can't imagine what it'd be like fightin' the bloke now!"

"It'd probably be a lot like last time, just twenty times more painful!" Rinku answered for him.

There was a haze still drifting around the detective even as the phoenix vanished…but the power still remained. Yusuke smirked as his eyes turned towards the glaring Toguro in front of him.

"Are you so arrogant Urameshi that you thought you could actually beat me while wearing those…?" he wondered darkly, but with the tiniest hint of amusement.

He smirked again and laughed, "Well, yeah, sorta…" he confessed sheepishly, "In hindsight I may have been a bit cocky…"

The apparition narrowed his eyes dangerously at the idea that Urameshi had taken him for no more than a joke, "You've wasted enough of my time by underestimating me…Fortunately this will be the last time you ever make that mistake…"

Yusuke glared in response as he slowly took a step forward. His steps quickened steadily as he made his way across the arena until he was at an all-out run towards the apparition. With the same momentum, the detective launched himself into the air—

And swiftly vanished.

Those along team Urameshi's sidelines stared in awe at the ring where Yusuke had once been standing.

Kurama narrowed his eyes slightly, "Now I understand…"

The second redhead furiously searched the fighting arena for the detective, "_Nani?_ Where'd he go?" he shouted.

In answer to Kazuma's question, there was suddenly a flash of movement over the arena. Toguro's head snapped towards it and his eyes widened. Urameshi hovered directly above him and was quickly falling. Another instant later, and the apparition was being pummeled by a flurry of his fists. Without relenting, Yusuke continued to throw punches into the side of Toguro's face; not allowing him to have the time to put up any defense. The detective's attack continued down into his gut.

He let out a cry and hurled a final fist; hooking Toguro's jaw…

And sending the apparition flying.

All across the stadium, mouths dropped in pure shock and astonishment as Yusuke's attack lifted him off the ground and threw him across the arena.

"T-Toguro's knocked down!" Koenma cried in bewilderment.

But Kuwabara laughed in victory, "Ah! He's gotta be feeling that one!"

Urameshi landed back on the ground instantaneously with Toguro's body. But as the apparition crashed into the ground, Yusuke quickly disappeared a second time—and reappeared again above Toguro.

He cocked his fist as he fell directly towards the other fighter. Another second later, and his fist slammed into his opponent. There was a burst of energy that blasted out from around the two fighters and a spurt of blood was coughed up by Toguro as a crater formed beneath the both of them.

Yusuke would not stop. His fists continued to find ways of attacking Toguro over and over again…and still the apparition put up no protection…

"This is a very different fighter…" Kurama mused quietly to himself, "I've never seen Yusuke fight so intensely before…"

Kazuma laughed again, "You said it! He's like a machine!"

The detective continued attacking; shoving his fists again and again into Toguro's body…

Until something caught his attention.

Without warning, Yusuke stopped. His eyes widened as he quickly jumped out from the crater.

"But why?"

Hiei gritted his teeth furiously, "Idiot! Don't stop now!"

"AW!" Koto's ears drooped unhappily, "Just when we were starting to get into some hardcore pummeling, Yusuke got spooked and backed off like he was afraid of Toguro's unresponsive body!"

Urameshi breathed heavily and sweat appeared along his brow. He was watching the crater still, but there was a look of fear that remained within his eyes.

_It's that damn look in his eyes. Just by looking at them I thought I was going to be killed_, he mentally whispered to himself as the vision of the apparition's blank and lifeless eyes popped back into his head_…Like he was still the one in control…_

His thoughts were suddenly interrupted when he saw movement coming from within the hollow.

Slowly, Toguro's head appeared at the rim of the basin; the hollowness of his eyes sending a chill down the detective's spine and most likely anyone else…despite their ability to see them clearly. Yusuke took a wary step backwards as he stepped out from within the crater.

It was bizarre…Once, Toguro's body had been formed into a giant mass of muscles, but now it only looked as though he was made up of literally skin and bones…

Jin blinked, "What's with Toguro's muscles all of a sudden?" he wondered aloud, "They've deflated like a beach ball on the rocks. Lot a crazy things I seen, but this one takes the prize!"

Beside him, the ice master frowned slightly, "Urameshi's attack was powerful…Perhaps this is what happens when Toguro is injured."

Kurama was studying the apparition suspiciously, "I am afraid that a ferocious wolf is laying in wait underneath that placid sheep's façade…" he told the others seriously.

Hiei snorted, "I know," he muttered darkly, "It's written on his face…"

-:-

The tension-filled silence within the stadium was irritating her…

Genkai watched the match with narrowed eyes while Kira stood plastered in front of the screen, completely numb in her own sort of anticipation. She hated to say it, but Toguro had been right on one thing: Yusuke was a dumbass for underestimating him…and now he was just repeating himself.

She snorted half-heartedly, "…dimwit…"

-:-

"At last Yusuke…

"You've done as I asked…"

The detective started when there was a sickening crack resonating from Toguro. It happened again and again…almost like the sound of many cracking bones all at once…

But there was something else Urameshi was wary about…it was Toguro's aura. It was the same hazy violet color from before…but there was something different and more malevolent about it this time that made the detective uneasy.

"I've waited a long time for this moment…" he told him slowly, "…Now destiny has rewarded my patience…"

There was suddenly a blast of air that swept over the floor of the arena and the earth began to shake beneath them as the _ki_ surrounding Toguro began to pulsate.

"Wow! The earth is quaking everyone!" Koto cheered as she pointed out the obvious, "Now this is shaping up to be the kind of fight where some legends are made and others are painfully broken!"

Yusuke took another step back as the apparition let out a furious cry of rage into the air.

"_Shimatta…_" he breathed…

-

Mai sensed it even before it came into view.

Her senses raced as she swiftly held up a _reiki _barrier before her. Only an instant later, did the blast of violet _chi_ charge towards her and bounce off of the shield—but only by the merest chance. The light continued further behind her until it had completely enveloped the island.

She breathed heavily as she stared between the land in front of her and the rest of the island trying to resist the enormous wave of energy.

But the guardian quickly clenched her fist, "That _BASTARD!_"

He was going to kill Urameshi before she even laid a hand on him!

-

Yusuke stood frozen to the spot. His eyes widened in horror as the energy rose up into a pillar surrounding the apparition. Energy rushed out through the stadium while Toguro gladly embraced the _ki_ radiating around him and that spiraled up through the top of the stadium.

It wasn't even as though he was trying to shield his eyes from the light; the detective, quite simply, couldn't move. Sweat appeared along his brow as the aura grew thicker and thicker…

The sickening cracking sound continued however while Toguro's body began to throb all at once. The muscles along his body expanded and constricted with the heavy flow of his pounding blood and formed grotesque areas around him. He was breathing heavily with an eerie wheezing sound, as his silhouette appeared from behind the wall of _chi_; his eyes keeping a similar color to his energy…

Toguro's _yoki_ morphed again as it created a dome over the apparition. Then bullets from within the energy field suddenly charged outwards into the stadium. They roared furiously over the stands; tearing up the seats…as well as those who were unfortunately sitting in them. Screams of terror and agony swept over the arena as the energy bullets drilled mercilessly into the demons watching the fight.

Kurama watched the transforming apparition nervously, "It's hard to tell if Toguro's lost control of his power, or if he's attacking the crowd on purpose…"

The skin along the demon's body grew into a tint of a sickly gray and his bones cracked as they made room for the atrocious body parts growing.

He let out a furious cry suddenly as he raised his hands above his head. Urameshi stepped back on instinct when a black orb of energy appeared between his hands. It crackled with several bolts of purple electricity before it suddenly expanded; enveloping the entire arena.

Yusuke started and hurriedly whipped his head around; even though the stadium had already vanished from his sight.

"Oi!" Kuwabara shouted into the darkness, "What the? Who the heck is turning off the lights?"

The second redhead frowned, "Be careful, Yusuke…"

Hiei smirked in anticipation, "This is it."

Koenma sweated nervously as he chewed at the end of his pacifier, "I'm not lookin' forward to this…"

The darkness was swallowing the island whole, and uncertain cries echoed through the inky black.

"Dammit, I can't even see myself think!" Kazuma shouted furiously.

But then from beneath the veil of nothing, a dim purple flame appeared. It enveloped a monstrous form…no doubt what was now considered Toguro. Yusuke's face was outlined by the violet glow amidst the darkness that accentuated the fear that grew within his eyes.

And it was without warning that the stadium suddenly appeared, and the inky veil vanished; leaving behind a single atrocity bathed in a purple haze.

But Toguro wasn't finished yet…

"Urameshi!" Kuwabara yelled across the arena, "This is your chance! Finish him off! Do it while you can before he reaches full power!"

But the detective didn't stir.

_I…I can't move. It's not fear that's holding me back though…it's curiosity. I just need to know what he's got…_

There was suddenly a wave of silence that swept over the crowd as the violet haze drew itself into Toguro's misshapen body. What once resembled something of a human was depicted as no more than a cold-blooded demon. Toguro's body bulged with the armor-like skin he had so recently acquired and the enormous muscles that protruded around his body.

Even Hiei seemed suddenly stricken in shock, "…I can't believe…that body used to be human…"

Kazuma gritted his teeth, "Hey, are we certain he doesn't get any stronger?"

"Well after much anticipation and buildup—Toguro has finally revealed his full power!" Koto breathed through her microphone in sheer excitement, "And may I be the first to say that I'm not the least bit disappointed in the grand unveiling. You have _got_ to see this muscle-bound man to believe him!"

Team Urameshi awaited along the sidelines nervously as the two fighters continued to square off.

"You know…" Kuwabara said slowly, "I was kickin' myself pretty hard before for not bein' able to feel this guy's power…But now I realize that if I actually had felt it, my head would have exploded all over the darn place…"

"Well, you win some and you loose some," the demigod replied trying to sound calm, "I guess that's what makes it gambling. It's too bad, really, that Yusuke didn't have enough time with Genkai before she gave him her power…Just a few more years…" he said absently.

Yusuke clenched his fists at his side…not quite out of defense, but rather in his fear did he try and direct the pain coursing through him.

He started suddenly when the apparition raised his hand…but as he waited and watched, that was all he seemed to—

The detective's head suddenly snapped backwards; sending him flying across the floor of the arena. He slid along the earth and tumbled into one of the chunks left behind from the original ring; creating a spider web effect on the stone slab behind him.

Jin gaped, "I…missed somethin'" he whispered in shock.

"It looks like Urameshi had a couple too many…" Chuu frowned.

Staggering and gritting his teeth, the detective rose back to his feet. His eyes glared at Toguro furiously as a trickle of blood raced down his forehead from somewhere beneath his hairline.

_What the hell? One second I'm standing and the next…_

His eyes flickered towards the apparition's hand and widened.

…_His thumb! That bastard made a bullet and shot it at me with his thumb!_ He realized suddenly and with a growing amount of anger within him.

Toguro smirked in amusement, "Did you like that one?" he wondered coolly, "Unlike your spirit gun, I have an infinite supply…"

Yusuke started when something prickled along the back of his neck. Out of the blue, he raised his fists and powered through them and creating miniature shields just as Toguro raised his hand towards him again.

It was lightning fast the way the apparition fired off those bullets at Urameshi. The detective was just barely able to keep up with his speed whilst dodging his previous attacks. He gritted his teeth as he fought back and sent Toguro's bullets flying elsewhere.

_Man, this is getting rough;_ he muttered mentally, _I hope he gets bored soon. Dotted skin is not my favorite look…_

The bullets were taking different directions now and flying off into the dirt around Yusuke's feet. Dust began to fill up the air around him as more and more bullets kicked up the dirt and rubble.

Toguro came to a halt on his assault suddenly when the detective had completely been covered by the veil of dust.

"It looks to me like Toguro's done with target practice—and Urameshi's just plain done!" the kitsune announcer shouted to the audience.

But before she could get too excited, the dust shifted and a flash of movement sped out of the mound of debris. Yusuke appeared above the apparition with his fist already glowing and his eyes glaring menacingly towards Toguro.

"Take this—you bastard!" he cried.

The apparition didn't even flinch. He calmly raised his hand and extended his thumb towards the oncoming detective. And with only that, was he able to catch Urameshi's attack before he even had the slightest chance of hitting him.

Yusuke's eyes widened, "_NANI?_"

Toguro's other fist however, was quickly taking on its own attack; slamming straight into the detective's extended arm. Instantly, the area around the apparition's fist bruised from the blow and a sickening cracking sound was heard throughout the stadium. The punch sent Yusuke flying back into the ground. He rolled, but when he stopped furiously clutched his nearly-broken arm to his chest and screamed.

"I have more power in my thumb than you have in you entire body," the apparition informed him darkly.

Urameshi dangerously narrowed his eyes, "We'll see…" he muttered as he extended his forefinger, "I've got a strong finger myself!"

He eyed the glowing finger angrily, "Now hit me with everything you have!" he roared towards the detective, "You have no idea which shot will be your last!"

Yusuke glared furiously, "**_SPIRIT GUN!_**"

The blast ripped towards the apparition, but Toguro didn't even bother to flinch—or move at all for that matter. Even as the giant orb of blue energy hurtled towards him. His eyes narrowed towards the attack and let the bullet slam straight into him; only to have it dissipate against the sheer strength of his skin and body.

The detective's eyes widened in fear as Toguro continued to watch him.

"I consider myself a good judge of humankind. Having formerly been one I can say there's something missing in your eyes…"

"_This…maybe the last time I'll be able to see you…" he whispered._

Suddenly, Yusuke started when Toguro vanished. A flash of movement appeared directly in front of him—and without warning found himself dangling in the air; the apparition's fist clenched furiously around the collar of his shirt.

He brought the fighter closer to his face, "And that something…is fear…"

"…_I'm afraid, Kuwabara…" he muttered quietly and his fist clenched again, "…I'm afraid she'll get hurt—that Toguro…" he furiously shut his eyes, "That Toguro would kill her! She's too damn stubborn so even if I told her to stay away, that stupid bitch would come along anyway!"_

"It used to be one of your strength," Toguro continued darkly, "Without fear you will never grow stronger as a fighter. I know I've told you that before!"

The apparition's other hand suddenly materialized in front of him—and without giving Yusuke any warning, drilled directly into his gut. He gagged at the sudden force pressing down on him, but that also did not have enough time to reflect on when he was sent flying.

His body crashed into the stands and continued drilling upwards until he slammed into the back wall.

Yusuke stood frozen for only a moment; his eyes drawing up blank and nearly lifeless.

"…_ke…"_

The detective suddenly dropped to his knees and braced himself with his hands. He coughed again and choked; blood spilling from his mouth and dripping slowly between his gritted teeth.

From the arena below, Toguro's eyes narrowed fiercely.

"I _will_ find that fear!"

-:-

_Love is everything it's cracked up to be…It really is worth fighting for, being brave for, risking everything for. _

**Erica Jong**


	37. Yusuke's Despair

DISCLAIMER: I do not own YYH, but everything that has not happened in the series, is mine thank you very much

a/n: YAY! FOUR DAY WEEKEND! And what better way to spend it than writing up (what I think is) the most dramatic chapter (might be second most, later on) in this fic!

RANDOM NOTE: Haha, funny story: while I was typing up this chapter, I wrote the line "I lied Yusuke" but then spellcheck told me that it was supposed to be "I laid Yusuke" (me: uhh…XD)

Cookies to everyone who reviewed! (I finally reached the 200 marker! (Thank you Umeko Saito! LOL)

Little Sakura: LOL! I don't think I got to that commentary yet :nervous laugh: but I'll be sure to put that down on my list of things to do (I still haven't gotten my homework done so…yeah…)

BlueWater26: Aww thank you! Heh, but it's pretty much by pure luck that I'm able to write those scenes…I swear I drag out those sequences forever (or at least that's what it seems like to me)

Umeko Saito: Haha, yes you were the 200th reviewer! Thank you! (And I do believe Toguro's cooking show would be resourceful, lol)

Shadowkitsune7: Yes it does…hehe, but thank you I'm glad you enjoyed it!

Seeyu: …Is that a good 'wow'?

_Thoughts_

_:We often give our enemies the means of our own destruction:_

**Aesop**

_Forever Fornever II_

:Yusuke's Despair:

The apparition's other hand suddenly materialized in front of him—and without giving Yusuke any warning, drilled directly into his gut. He gagged at the sudden force pressing down on him, and he was sent flying.

His body crashed into the stands and continued drilling upwards until he slammed into the back wall.

"Toguro blew away Yusuke's giant spirit gun with nothing but the aura surrounding him!" Koto shouted as she had followed the detective's progression through the air, "Now he's batted Yusuke all the way into the third level!"

Yusuke stood frozen for only a moment; his eyes drawing up blank and nearly lifeless.

The detective suddenly dropped to his knees and braced himself with his hands. He coughed again and choked; blood spilling from his mouth and dripping slowly between his gritted teeth.

From the arena below, Toguro's eyes narrowed fiercely.

"You're not doing your job Yusuke Urameshi…" he growled.

-:-

"Son of a bitch," she muttered as she ran furiously through the forest, "Bastard! JACKASS!"

She was gonna _kill_ him!

-:-

"This is the first time I've fought at one hundred percent," the apparition continued as he watched Urameshi, "Clearly there must be a reason. The way you're fighting now, I could finish you easily with one punch of my powered-up arm. But that's not what I've waited all this time for…" his eyes flashed, "You have a power you still have not realized and this body will bring it out!"

Yusuke gritted his teeth as he stared down at the ground; his body still shaking and Toguro's voice carrying towards him.

"The techniques Genkai mastered over all her years, combined with the unnatural talent you were born with…that's everything you need for an ultimate power. For years I've waited for those ingredients to show themselves, and now they have. So I must put my strength against yours and know the answer it will give…"

With the rest of his team, Kuwabara clenched his teeth furiously, "I can't stand this guy! He's trying to beat more power out of Urameshi just so he can have a good time!"

The demigod beside him narrowed his eyes, "It's the nature of the demon body they gave him. His instincts tell him to fight…" he replied.

But Toguro snorted in amusement, "Don't sell me short," he told them, "It's more than that. I may have the instincts to act aggressively, but it's my own choices to follow them through that define what I am. Without my conscious decisions, my body has only impulses that will quickly fade away…"

As he was talking, the flesh along his shoulders quivered. It began to move until it formed two tube-like forms on either side of him.

His eyes narrowed darkly towards the detective on the third level, "Let me show you what I mean."

All of a sudden, screams and cries of horror rose up around the stadium. Tiny orbs of red light drifted into the air around the demons in the stands…followed shortly by the drifting, ghostly figures of their souls. Over the entire arena these misty apparitions rose up and found their way towards Toguro in the center of the ring where consumed them through the tubes in his shoulders.

Touya watched in horror as those around him and his teammates toppled over one by one and their souls flew towards the apparition in the middle, "Toguro's body is creating a vacuum for all the souls in the audience!" he cried as a purple haze formed around the towering demon.

"He's suckin' em straight into himself!" Rinku shouted with the same fear.

Beside the two of them, the violet-haired apparition gritted his teeth, "What a cowardly rooter!" he muttered.

"Remaining at top strength is demanding…and my body gets an impulse to devour souls…" Toguro went on, "But it's not until I decide to kill that the feeding begins."

Urameshi's fist dug into the ground beneath him as he continued to shake furiously.

The apparition narrowed his eyes again, "I've chosen evil, and in twenty minutes everyone will be gone. Aren't you going to do something Urameshi?" he wondered; hinting mockery, "Or will your friends have to watch as you let these people die…?"

A swirling dust began to form around him now and spiraled through the stadium. There were a number of screams added to the cries of pain as this dust gathered more and more souls for Toguro to consume.

Koenma quickly moved in front of the three fighters behind him and raised his hand. There was a brief flicker of light before a barrier appeared around them.

And in the stands, a miniature tornado appeared around Jin and Touya; causing the deadly mist to bounce off into other directions.

"They're not even fighting! I don't wanna die this way!"

"No joke! Let's get out of here!"

Cries of terror quickly followed as the demons in the stands rushed hurriedly towards the nearest exit; desperately trying to escape being devoured by the monstrous apparition. Those not quick enough to keep up the pace, were presumably crushed beneath the stampeding heard of demons charging away from the arena.

"Afraid of being sucked into Toguro's body, the weaker fans that can't defend themselves are stampeding out of the stadium; their faces are contorted by panic!" Koto cried as many of the demons raced past her. And even through all the obvious signs of doom, the announcer remained where she was.

Shizuru frowned on the cigarette in her mouth, "That muscle man's having his way. I'm not so sure Yusuke can stop him."

"Ah! Please don't step forward, Shizuru-san!" Yukina asked hurriedly, "You won't be protected by Puu's barrier if you do!"

The gambler standing amidst the panic in his calm-demeanor casually fished for something in his pocket. He brought forth a calculator-looking object and flipped it open; punching in a few numbers and finally hitting the 'enter' key.

There the briefest pause before the earth suddenly started rumbling. Several of the apparitions stopped to wonder what was going on, but other continued towards freedom…

But that would be a freedom that they would never reach.

Without warning, giant slabs of concrete rose up from the ground. They shuddered the earth beneath the stadium as they towered over the arena itself; blocking the only means of escape for the audience members and sending an ominous shadow over their terrified faces.

"Are you out of your minds?" somebody cried, "Let us out of here!"

Sakyo calmly withdrew a cigarette from his pocket and stuck it in his mouth; lighting it, "Oh you can't want to leave us…" he said carelessly, "Your lives are worth less than the tickets. Now." His eyes flashed towards the audience, "No one but the winners get out of here alive…"

Yusuke's eyes widened in horror as he gritted his teeth.

"I'm not going down without a fight!" another demon cried, "I'm charging that bastard!"

Shouts of agreement rose up as the apparitions turned back around and raced towards Toguro furiously. The demon watched them without so much as a drop of emotion as they charged. But he did narrow his eyes and raise his fist; adding once again to the agonizing cries as he destroyed all of those coming after him with the flick of his thumb.

He smirked slightly as the souls continued to draw themselves into Toguro's body, "All you weaklings had best remain in your seats. Yusuke and I have some disagreeable tempers—"

"Shut up Toguro!" the detective suddenly shouted; the fury in his voice clearly evident as he abruptly jumped into the air. He extended his fist as he fell towards the ground and towards the apparition below him.

"_TEME! _Don't you _ever_ put me in the same category as you!"

His fist slammed directly into Toguro's skull, but the apparition didn't even flinch. A burst of energy exploded out from his fist in waves, causing the rocks beneath him to fly up into the air. A haze of blue _chi_ wavered around the fighting pair.

"Now we're starting to get somewhere…" Toguro said in content as they stood frozen in the same position, "So it's you refusal to admit how much you and I are similar that makes you lash out at me…"

Yusuke clenched his teeth again while those in the audience watched them in awe. The detective began to throw punches into the apparition to the point where it seemed nonstop, but Toguro was taking each hit without so much as blinking. It had suddenly occurred to them…that Urameshi was there only ticket out of the stadium alive…

Hiei narrowed his eyes as he listened to the sudden change of attitude throughout the arena, "Hn…The opinion polls have changed."

The detective went after his face again; jerking the apparition's head from side to side—

But without warning, Toguro's fist appeared out of nowhere and slammed into the side of Urameshi's face. He cried out in pain as the attack flung him backwards. Before he could crash into the ground too painfully, he caught himself and charged back towards the demon; readying himself for a second assault.

As he was throwing his punch the apparition suddenly caught his fist.

Toguro glared dangerously, "You know that's not good enough."

His fist clenched around Yusuke's. The bones in his hand cracked threateningly and the detective screamed in pain.

The apparition whipped Urameshi's arm towards him and drove his fist into his gut.

-:-

Ahead of her, the guardian heard screams of pain and horror way off in the distance. Her fists clenched as she picked up her pace.

There was no way in hell she was going to let Toguro kill him first!

"YUSUKE YOU ASS!" she screamed into the air, "DON'T YOU _DARE_ DIE ON ME!"

-:-

Toguro's fist slammed into the top of the detective's head. Yusuke cried out as he suddenly slammed into the ground; a small trickle of blood seeping between his gritted teeth. He clenched his eyes shut, but could not find the strength to get up…

"…_Mai…_"

_She smiled gently and suddenly pointed upwards, "Oh look, Yusuke!" she cried and stared up at the sky, "It's snowing!"_

_Confused, the detective followed her gaze to find the flurries drifting down from the heavens above. The guardian smiled as the snowflakes began to flutter around them; gentling catching themselves in her crimson hair._

_They stood there; staring up at the night sky as the people around them began to make their way back to their homes before they caught cold..._

_But the snow suddenly vanished…along with Mai…_

_Something wasn't right…the detective furiously whipped his head around; where was everyone? _

_Where was Mai?_

_He suddenly felt a shadow looming over him and whirled. His eyes widened suddenly and his pupils dilated in horror. A sickly gray hand clenched around the guardian's tiny throat as she dangled helplessly in the air above him…And he saw Toguro's fiery red eyes glaring at him through the darkness…_

"_Sorry Urameshi…" he growled as Mai screamed in pain, "There's no escaping from me now…"_

Yusuke's eyes shot open and widened in terror—just in time to see Toguro's foot coming down on top of him. The detective cried out in pain as the apparition drove his leg into him; creating a crater beneath Urameshi's body…

He choked as a spurt of blood escaped his lips and Toguro drilled him further into the ground.

"I won't let you avoid your problems forever," the apparition muttered darkly, "The only thing waiting does is cause more people to die!"

Koto staggered slightly as she tried to remain standing through the broadcast, "There's relatively few of us left in the audience now….Toguro is too much…Its draining power is taking its toll on the strong as well…" she suddenly dropped to her knees, "I don't know if you'll hear this broadcast much longer…"

But she blinked suddenly when she noticed a barrier flickering in front of her. The announcer turned to find Chuu holding up a barrier beside her and with Rinku on her other side.

"Rage on there sheila, I got your tail," he told her with a grin, "You do want to be a bonzer announcer don't ya?"

She nodded dumbly, "Uh, yeah!"

"You're all rip shorter over there, aren't ya mate?" he called to Rinku.

The shorter apparition nodded, "Oh yeah!"

Botan shook her head hysterically; she felt tears beginning to fill her eyes, "Yusuke can still win this fight!" she told herself and the other girls, "And then we can all go home! We can't afford to think about what happens if he loses or how much we'll let down Genkai! We've just got to trust him and keep our cool, _okay!_" she was really crying by now as tears streamed down the side of her face.

"_This is such a mess._"

The ferry girl suddenly blinked and whirled.

…That voice…

"Oh that's just perfect!" she shouted furiously, "Now I'm hearing things too!"

Urameshi gritted his teeth fiercely as he placed his hands beneath Toguro's foot; trying to relieve the force off of him, but he only succeeded in making the crater beneath him bigger. The detective winced painfully.

"You see…" Toguro drawled, "I become something of a different person when I take my full demon form…I'll do anything to get what I desire."

He suddenly noticed the apparition's eyes flicker behind him. Yusuke's eyes widened, horrified when he realized that his attention at turned towards the group of girls standing amidst the rest of the audience. His pupils dilated in terror as Toguro turned towards them; his fist beginning to take on a familiar violet haze.

The detective felt his heart stop when Toguro's hand lashed out towards them.

The energy blast hurtled across the stadium and into the stands where the girls' cries of terror could be heard; the ball of _chi_ drilling straight through the stadium wall and through to the other side…

And Yukina and the other girls stared nervously at the monstrous hole left in the wall only a few feet away…

Urameshi was breathing heavily as the apparition standing above him smirked.

"I wonder if I'll miss next time…?"

Yusuke's eyes flared wrathfully as a suddenly pillar of energy shot out from him. Toguro blinked slightly as the detective vanished from beneath his foot in a burst of blue _ki_. He reappeared in front of the apparition clenching his teeth.

Letting out a rage-filled cry, he charged Toguro and slammed his fist into the demon's face. His head snapped to the side with the attack as Urameshi screamed in fury and went for a second attack. But before he was even able to lay another hand on him, Toguro's hand suddenly appeared and slashed across the side of his face sending the detective flying backwards.

He cried out as he was sent hurtling through the air. When he was finally able to stop, it was the stadium wall that stopped him. Rubble flew up into the air around the detective and fell around him.

"You're an incredible disappointment." Toguro growled, "I went through so much in the assumption you would be the one person who could fight me. If I'm proven wrong…" his eyes flashed dangerously, "You'll pay for it dearly."

Urameshi coughed and blood spilled between his lips. He weakly raised his head, "I'll get you…" he muttered darkly.

_If I ever get the chance…_

Kuwabara clenched his fist, "No! Don't give up now Urameshi!" he shouted at the detective's nearly lifeless form.

The demigod chewed nervously on his pacifier.

_There's no choice. I'm sending her in…_

-:-

Genkai glanced up nonchalantly and cracked open an eye.

The former guardian was where she had left her: standing in front of the giant screen in front of Koenma's desk. But it had been something elsewhere that had disrupted her train of thought.

She calmly slipped off of the desk and made her way towards the giant oak doors.

Kira turned, "Master Genkai?"

The older woman didn't slow down on her way out, "That's my cue…" she told her as she closed the two giant doors behind her.

-:-

"So stupid!" Juri whimpered as she cradled her head, "Why did I run away to be an announcer? I should have stayed home and raised apples!"

A puff of smoke drifted up above Shizuru's head lazily, "A little past twenty and it's over…" she said rather casually, "I should have went on more dates…"

"Don't you talk like that, Shizuru!" the ferry-girl reprimanded angrily, "It's not over!"

She looked as though she was going to say something more, but was stopped short. The girls blinked when they had noticed Puu drifting down in front of him.

"Yukina. Botan."

? It was that voice again…

"Combine your powers to make a barrier while I'm gone..."

"AH!"

As the spirit beast turned around, the girls let out a cry of alarm all in unison. There was something different about Puu…but not so different that his appearance now oddly resembled a certain deceased someone…

Botan blinked, "Everybody…did hear that, right?"

Next to her, the ice apparition nodded slowly, "…It was the voice of Genkai…"

They watched, stunned, as the spirit beast flew off towards the arena floor. It was a long time before either of them spoke again.

"But I took her to Reikai…" The ferry-girl said in disbelief; still staring after 'Puu'

"Well she's possessed Puu's body," Shizuru returned, "I would say someone brought her back…"

Yusuke was shaking as he tried to lift himself from the pile of rubble, but his body would not respond. He heard Toguro's feet crunching in the gravel in front of him and he weakly lifted his head and clenched his teeth as the apparition approached.

But before he even took a few more steps, something flew ahead of him.

"You will never let this old woman have some peace and quiet will you Yusuke?"

The detective's eyes flashed up towards the spirit beast floating above him. Toguro had stopped as well at the sound of Genkai's voice and cocked an eyebrow at the absurdness of her new form. She flapped above Yusuke as her eyes narrowed towards him.

Kazuma gaped, "Ah—_AH!_ Genkai's come back to life and she looks exactly like Puu!" he shouted incredulously.

She turned towards the apparition standing behind her, "Toguro, you want to see Yusuke's real power come to the surface? I'll tell you. He's very predictable.

"The only thing you have to do is kill one of his friends…and make sure he's watching…"

Urameshi's eyes widened, horrified, "Gen_kai_ what the hell is the matter with you?"

The old woman ignored him, "Yusuke has a six-foot wall of crap between him and his actual emotions, and that's where his power resides. To break through that wall you have to do something drastic, like killing someone he really cares for."

He shot up, "Dying must have ruined your heart, Genkai!" he accused her furiously.

She whirled back towards the detective, "Open your childish eyes, dimwit!" she roared, "If you don't stop Toguro everyone in this stadium dies! And dammit, if the life of one friend is what it takes for you to save the rest of them then that sacrifice is worth it!"

Yusuke jumped to his feet now; his eyes blazing in fury, "_No_! Dammit, you're nothing but a stupid little hypocrite!" he shouted as he pointed angrily at her, "You told me to commit to something all the way and I chose my friends! Now you say killing one as motivation is okay!"

Without warning, one of Puu's wings slapped the detective across the face. Urameshi's head jerked and he looked stunned until he recovered and grew furious again. He turned back around, but his expression softened slightly when he saw Genkai's expression.

"Sorry Yusuke, but this is the world you stuck yourself into, and it's not pretty," her eyes narrowed seriously, "When you're not strong enough to lead, you lose the privilege of getting what you want."

-:-

Had she not caught herself at the last minute, Mai would have probably run straight into the walls now surrounding the fighting arena. She skidded to a halt however and glared furiously before she swore under her breath.

Urameshi had sure gone through a hell of a lot of trouble to her away from this fight!

-:-

Toguro's fist suddenly took on a violet glow as he raised it towards the bickering pair. In an instance, he shot off two bullets from his thumb; both hitting their mark. Yusuke landed crashing into the ground while the older woman stumbled through the air before flying off.

"I had that idea awhile back and I didn't like the way it felt. But if nothing else can bring out your true abilities…" the apparition smirked suddenly, "Well, you heard before. I'll do anything."

The detective's eyes widened further as he clenched his teeth.

"All I have to do is choose which one."

"Don't do this…" Urameshi growled dangerously.

He smirked again; his eyes darkening, "It's just too bad that my first choice isn't here…" he said knowing already what the detective's reaction would be. And sure enough, Yusuke's hand clenched furiously and his eyes flared in rage.

But this was exactly what he had planned for…

…Somehow he had expected something like this to happen…

And that's why he had to leave her behind.

_Her eyes became hidden beneath her veil of crimson hair. But from within, the detective could hear her quiet sobs while her shoulders trembled. Teardrops fell from behind her hair, but she didn't seem to try and prevent them from coming._

_Yusuke slowly let go of her and her fists clenched at the ground beneath her. He watched as the tears streamed down her face; his gaze softened as she continued to cry._

_He sighed, but said nothing. After a long, hesitant pause, the detective found himself reaching out to her. And without waiting for a reaction, his arms suddenly wrapped around her and pulled her towards his chest._

_It was almost as if she hadn't even noticed, but her sobs continued. Her tears stained his shirt, even though he didn't seem to mind. The detective wrapped his arms around just as he felt her hands clutching weakly at his shirt._

_Both of them sat in silence for the longest time—all save for Mai's muffled sobs. From a little ways off, Kira watched the pair curiously with her head cocked. Yusuke pressed her tighter to him and Mai let out a small hiccup._

"_You're…You're hopeless you know that?" he said quietly._

"You've been hiding your fear from me, Urameshi," Toguro said darkly; his eyes flashing and jerking Yusuke out of his daydream, "You've hidden it along with her…"

The detective growled under his breath as Toguro continued to glare at him dangerously.

But the apparition suddenly smirked, "…That just means I'll have to choose another one of your friends, doesn't it, Urameshi?"

Yusuke clenched his teeth, "I won't let you, Toguro."

"Hn…I'm afraid you have little choice in that matter," the apparition told him with a smirk, "I've waited too long for a fight like this…and I plan to make it worth while!" the corner of his lips curled maliciously, "Just remember Yusuke, it's your own fault for not finding your power on your own."

"Don't do this Toguro—!"

"URAMESHI YOU SON OF A BITCH!"

"_He'll do it too…he doesn't care…he'll kill her whether I can stop him or not," his fist shook, "This is the only way I can save her…don't you see that, Kuwabara? Even if we won the tournament…I'm not sure what I'd do if she died…"_

At once, it was as if the entire stadium went silent. Yusuke felt his body go numb altogether and his pupils dilated in pure terror at the sound of her voice; he didn't even need to turn…he didn't _want_ to turn and see.

"…no…" he whispered, horrified.

Mai dropped down from the top of the concrete walls into a huddle of demons below. She furiously fought her way through until she had reached the stadium itself. And in all her anger, she seemed oblivious that there was actually a fight taking place.

"I CAN'T _BELIEVE_ YOU!" she raged, "HOW MUCH MORE OF AN ASS CAN YOU GET? LEAVING ME BEHIND LIKE THAT!"

"…dammit, Mai…" the detective shook his head; his eyes still wide. _Why is she here?_ He thought furiously to himself. She was supposed to stay back at the hotel! "Dammit! STAY AWAY!"

"Don't tell _me _to stay away Yusuke Urameshi!" she returned without paying him any heed. Those along team Urameshi's sidelines stared at her with the same fear that Yusuke was showing…

But before the guardian could charge any further after the detective, she was stopped short. Without her noticing, Hiei had suddenly appeared in front of her, sword drawn. His back was towards her defensively as the rest of their team raced after them.

"Fuck it, onna," he growled angrily, "Your timing sucks."

It slowly dawned on her for the first time as she stared out above the apparition that the detective was not alone in the ring…and she grew quiet. There was something in the air that told her she really had chosen one of the worst times to charge in on Yusuke's fight…

Urameshi shook violently. She wasn't supposed to be here…

…Mai was still back at the hotel; she was still safe…Toguro wouldn't be able to touch her…

He gritted his teeth, "…dammit Mai…"

Toguro's eyes flashed malevolently towards him, "So you've made my choice for me…" he said to the detective as if he took pleasure in where this was going, "How thoughtful of you…"

Yusuke's eyes widened.

The guardian clenched her fists angrily; oblivious still to what had happened prior to her arrival. But she didn't like the looks of things now, especially since she was suddenly the center of attention…and not for the best reasons either…

The rest of her teammates were suddenly surrounding her now; facing out towards the monstrous apparition in the ring with Urameshi. Despite the fact none of them had strength left to speak of, they held their ground.

"You've gotta get out of here, Mai," Kuwabara muttered over his shoulder.

She furrowed her brow uncertainly, "What's going on?"

The demigod stood beside her now, frowning, "Yusuke has been unable to reach his full power…" he informed her slowly; his eyes never leaving the arena, "And now, the only way for him to reach that power is if Toguro kills one of his friends—"

"…And I've chosen you, Mai."

Toguro pointed a gnarled finger at her and she froze. There was something…in the way he said her name that sent a chill down her spine; it was cruel and heartless…

The color drained from her face and she took an instinctive step backwards. The wall in front of her tightened as Kurama and the others braced themselves.

He smirked, "Urameshi does appear to be the most protective of you. Let's see you bring out his hidden emotions…" his eyes flashed as he started moving towards them.

"I'll make this quick."

Yusuke screamed suddenly as he launched after the apparition. "STOP IT TOGURO!"

His fist slammed furiously into the back of Toguro's head, but the demon continued walking. Urameshi flipped over him and landed in his path. The detective glared fiercely as he charged back towards the apparition with his fist extended; instantly landing punches the moment he made contact.

But with a smirk, Toguro's hand came out of nowhere and struck Urameshi across the face; sending him flying into the air. Yusuke cried out in pain as he crashed and slid into the ground. Blood dribbled from between his lips as he gritted his teeth.

"BASTARD!"

He charged again, but only succeeded in having Toguro shove him to the ground with his fist. The detective gagged as a stream of blood escaped his mouth. Yusuke staggered, but he was racing after the apparition again in only moments.

Toguro was easily able to swipe him away.

Mai hooded her eyes suddenly and her fist shook as Urameshi coughed up even more blood…

"_I needed to know if you were willing to risk everything for him…"_

Kurama gritted his teeth; just itching to have enough energy to summon his whip, "If he makes it over here, the three of us must fight him together…"

"Hn. With what secret weapon?" Hiei muttered, "You've barely been able to stand up since your flirting with death."

The redhead laughed hollowly, "Yes, your Kokuryuu technique hasn't left much of you either…we can still run if you want."

His eyes narrowed, "Don't be simple. I'll take Toguro alone if I must."

Koenma clenched his fists uncertainly as he watched the oncoming threat, _did you really have to do that, Genkai?_ His eyes flickered towards where the possessed spirit beast sat with its arms folded; _let's just hope to all it works…_

The detective screamed. His rage swelled within him as he charged after the apparition; he wouldn't let him touch her again! He had made that promise and there was no way in hell that he was going to break that now! He would kill Toguro before he let—

Yusuke choked suddenly when the apparition's fist drove into his gut. His eyes widened in pain as he fell back towards the ground. The detective landed on both knees as he clutched at his chest furiously; coughing up blood onto the arena beneath him.

"You do know this is your fault, right?" Toguro asked darkly as he watched the detective choke, "For living in a constant state of repression…and now it will be Mai who will pay for it…"

"_NO!_"

Blind rage fueled him now as he shot up off the ground. His eyes burned fiercely to the point where it nearly blinded him. He wasn't going to let him anywhere near her! He would die himself before he let that happen! Screaming, he pointed his finger towards the apparition furiously.

But Toguro's eyes flashed and he vanished.

—!

"Relax Yusuke…" he abruptly felt the apparition's face directly next to his, "I'll free you up."

The apparition's hand clutched the top of his head and suddenly shoved him into the ground. He drove the detective's face further and further until a crater began to form around his head and the rest of his body. And Yusuke didn't stir.

Toguro rose and began walking once again; this time with no more interference.

"Ready?" Kurama asked, bracing himself. The apparition beside him nodded shortly as well as the second redhead on his other side.

"No…Please stop…"

The group froze and turned. Mai's fists trembled at her side and her eyes were hooded beneath her hair. The rest of her body shook too, but whether it was from anger or fear was up to her. A muscle jerked in her jaw as if she was trying not to cry.

"Just stop and think, Mai!" Kurama pleaded with her urgently.

"You won't survive against him!" Kuwabara cut in with the same desperation in his voice.

Hiei narrowed his eyes, "This is no time for you to act like an idiot," he told her, "Face Toguro alone now and you'll die before this minute is through—"

He stopped and the others watched as the guardian lifted her head.

She smiled vaguely, "Heh, I have little intention of fighting him…" she told them quietly, "This was Yusuke's fight after all…"

They stared at her in disbelief, "What?"

"Hey Koenma…" Mai turned slowly towards the demigod, "Just make sure you have a place for me alright? I'd like to actually have a spot waiting for me; I don't want to end up like Kira…"

"Mai! Wait, I—!"

She suddenly pushed through her teammates and towards the arena. But Kurama reached out and grasped her arm before she could get too far. The guardian stopped and slowly turned back towards him and caught the desperation in his eyes.

"Mai..._please_..." he whispered.

Her eyes met his for a moment longer before she slowly released herself from his grasp, "I'm sorry, Kuram-kun..."

As she passed, her teammates clenched their fists. The guardian moved slowly, but with deliberation as if she was carrying a heavy load along her back. Strands of her hair fell over her face to shield her eyes away from those who would see the tears forming…

"I lied Yusuke…" she said softly into the air, "You really are an ass…"

The detective shook violently as he tried to lift himself out of the crater surrounding his body.

…_Mai…don't do this…_

"…please…"

"You went through all that trouble with Genkai's training and her spirit orb…and you don't even know how to use it," she let out a short, hollow laugh, "Heh…you really are something else…"

-:-

Kira's eyes widened in horror. Her knuckles turned white as her hand curled into a tight fist…

"What is she doing…?" she whispered.

The dark-haired ferry-girl behind her glanced up, "Miss Kira?"

She shook her head furiously, "What is she doing?" she asked again, "Mai, what are you doing?" her eyes widened further and she felt her body trembling.

"…_Mai will **have** to die…"_

The former guardian suddenly felt tears springing to her eyes, "Don't do this Mai…Dammit don't be stupid!"

Tears rolled swiftly down the side of her face and she clenched her eyes shut.

"_MAI!_"

-:-

She came to a halt suddenly near the center of the arena. Her eyes grew distant as she stared down at the earth beneath her and she stood motionlessly for a long time.

Yusuke watched her pleadingly, "…Mai…"

The guardian's head shifted slightly towards the sound of his voice, and slowly raised her eyes.

There was a smile along her lips as tears brimmed in her eyes; tracing the soft curves of her face as they trickled down to her chin. She seemed oblivious to them.

"But…we had a good run right?"

There was suddenly a blast of wind that whipped across the stadium. It kicked up the dust at Mai's feet and tousled her hair around her face, but her eyes did not leave the detective. It was then that the air began to resonate with a distant sound; soft like bells yet just as thunderous as gongs. It vibrated fiercely through the air and through the stadium; stirring those sitting in the audience.

Touya gaped as he stared down into the arena, "That energy…" he whispered in astonishment, "It's amazing; like it was before when we fought, and yet there's something entirely different about it…"

"I'd say," Jin agreed as he stared wide-eyed at the guardian, "The lass is like a bomb! Like she'll go all 'kaboom' at any second!"

Kurama gasped as a golden haze appeared around Mai, "That's…not normal spirit energy!" he cried in alarm.

The _ki_ surrounding her strengthened suddenly. It swayed rhythmically, as if it were made up of fire. And as the sheer force of her energy filled the stadium, a fiery wind began to swirl around the guardian, and the gems along her brow and the markings on her cheeks suddenly vanished into the whirlwind.

_I don't believe it…_Koenma's pacifier nearly fell out of his mouth in shock, _that energy…she's still in its early stages, but there's no mistaking it…_

For the briefest moment, a glimmer of uncertainty flashed across Toguro's face; as if he had not entirely expected something like this to happen. But as quickly as it had come, it vanished and was replaced by another one of his devilish smirks.

The demigod frowned, _but_ _it won't be enough to defeat Toguro alone…_

"…dammit," Kazuma muttered suddenly. His knuckles were white and his teeth clenched fiercely. His brow furrowed. She shouldn't have to do this…Urameshi should be strong enough to call on his own darn energy! Mai shouldn't have to sacrifice herself!

Koenma started abruptly, along with Kurama and Hiei, "Kuwabara, wait! STOP!"

The guardian turned suddenly when she heard the demigod's cry. Her eyes widened when the redhead slid to a halt in front of her; bracing himself in a defensive stance. On the other side of them, Yusuke watched them in horror.

"Kuwabara!" Mai cried.

He turned his head slightly and offered her a serious look, "There's no stoppin' him," he told her, "And Urameshi'll never forgive me if I ever let anything happen to you, so I might as well go down trying right?"

There was a flash of orange light as Kuwabara drew his sword and brandished it before him.

"A mulberry's a tree. Kuwabara's a man. And I'll prove it to you!" he shouted, "Toguro will have to go through me before he can even think about getting to you!" he turned back towards the guardian and grinned slightly, "I'll make you a promise, Mai: I won't let Toguro or anyone else near you alright?"

"Fine," Toguro's voice suddenly broke Kazuma's speech, "I'll just have to kill both of you!"

Yusuke's eyes widened, terrified, "NO!"

But Mai was way ahead of him.

She lowered her head and hooded her gaze; his fists shaking at her sides.

"No…

"…I'm sorry Kazuma…"

Without warning, the _chi_ swirling around her exploded all at once; the force sending Kuwabara tumbling away from her and away from Toguro's path. The energy rose up around her ferociously while the redhead tried to recover.

"I…see now…" Koenma said aloud in astonishment.

"Does the onna actually think she's going to take Toguro on alone?" Hiei muttered, "She must not have listened to us when we told her he'd kill her…"

The demigod shook his head as it suddenly became clear to him, "No…I don't think she plans to even lay a single attack on him…" he watched as the golden energy spiraled upwards into the top of the stadium.

"You were right Kurama," he continued, "That is no normal _reiki_…nor is it any type of _yoki_ either. This type of energy is different from both of them…

"It literally feeds off the purity of a human soul…"

In front of them, the guardian was silent, and in front of her, Yusuke still struggled to get to his feet; desperate to stop Toguro at all costs, but he found himself deprived of the strength he desired.

Koenma's eyes narrowed, "Mai doesn't plan to fight Toguro…because she plans to give up all of her energy to Yusuke. But to do that successfully…to transport energy from one soul to another…Toguro _must_ kill her…"

"NO! MAI! Dammit, don't do this!" Urameshi shouted furiously, "I don't need your energy—_PLEASE!_"

Kazuma drew his sword again and desperately tried to reach the guardian through the thick veil of energy. But the _ki_ lashed out at him as if ordering him to stay away. That however, only caused the redhead to try and break through with his spirit sword. Kuwabara couldn't even get close to her.

"GET AWAY MAI!" Yusuke screamed, "DAMMIT, _RUN AWAY!_"

He grew silent all of a sudden when he noticed her smiling through the golden haze. His eyes widened as tears trickled down the guardian's face.

"…_Aishiteru_…Yusuke..."

_Urameshi wasn't going into this without her…They were a team, and she would make sure it stayed that way until the end…_

…_Until the very end…_

Urameshi's body went numb, "…_Mai_…"

Toguro suddenly stepped between the detective's view of her, "I've waited long enough, Yusuke Urameshi—now I plan to enjoy the reward for my patience!"

His pupils dilated as the apparition vanished.

"**_NO!_**"

Yusuke shot to his feet desperately…as if he would have gotten to her before Toguro—

"I'll pick out her heart, Urameshi…that way you'll be able to cherish her even in death," came the apparition's voice.

The color suddenly drained from his face and the luster vanished from his eyes.

"…_No_…"

Mai dangled in Toguro's grip; his sickly gray fist clenched around her throat…just like in some terrible horrible dream…His hand clenched tighter and the guardian let out a strained cry out pain, but refused to attempt and free herself. The _chi_ around her flickered dangerously as she hung suspended in the apparition's grip.

"Now…" Toguro turned towards the guardian in his grasp, "…You will show me the power he has been hiding…"

"**_TOGURO!_**"

The apparition smirked maliciously; his hand raised and poised before the guardian's heart, "This was your own fault, Urameshi—"

—Blood suddenly spilled across the arena floor…

"_Please…" he murmured, "…Live for me, Mai…"_

…And Yusuke's eyes went blank with rage…

"**_MAI!_**"

-:-

_:We do not die because we have to die; we die because one day, and not so long ago, _

_our consciousness was forced to deem it necessary:_

**Antonin Artaud**


	38. Toguro's Desire

DISCLAIMER: I do not own YYH or any song lyrics that happen to pop into the course of the fic…

a/n: Wow, this is probably the fastest I've ever updated for um…ever XD

Cookies to everyone who reviewed!

BlueWater26: Well I'm actually glad you think so; I did try to make it as sad and/or devastating as possible…

Shadowkitsune7: Good thing you understood that little line, lol (I was afraid everyone was going to be asking: what the hell does "wo ai ni" mean?) I did get the idea from Fushigi Yuugi though :nervous laugh:

XxXHellzFireAngelXxX: Wow, long time no see right? Haha, okay calm down I have your update

Umeko Saito: Haha, alrighty I'm glad I could be some inspiration to you. And sorry about the end…but it _was_ practically mass genocide in the unedited version of the show, I just let you all fill in the blanks.

Fangimation: T.T I'm sorry! But that _is_ kind of how it happened in the unedited version (_that_ was really gross) (by the way, what does PUS mean? I've been wondering that XD)

_Thoughts_

_:A misery is not to be measured from the nature of evil,_

_But from the temper of the sufferer:_

**Joseph Addison**

_Forever Fornever II_

:Toguro's Desire:

_The wind blew past him with a quiet moan as it swept over the hillside. Blades of grass brushed against his face, but he wiped them away absently._

_With a sigh, Yusuke stared up at the sky above him. But by the way his head faced the bottom of the hill, it appeared to him as though the clouds had become the ground itself. He frowned at his own reasoning; that sounded stupid._

_He placed his hands behind his head and squinted down at the city beyond the forest. Far off, he could hear cars honking and whizzing through intersections. The detective thought for a moment as he stared at the clouds drifting along the ground and the buildings hanging upside-down from the sky. _You know_…he might have liked to see the world like that; switched around…_

…_Different…_

_A breeze swept over him and ruffled his t-shirt while he sighed again. In a sense…his own life had been turned upside-down…at least ever since she came along. He found himself laughing inwardly; she had changed a lot of things that was for sure. Maybe it was just him, but he could have sworn that Kuwabara was even acting slightly smarter…_

_There was just something about her that almost had a certain effect on people…_

_Or maybe it was just him she had affected._

_He frowned momentarily and stared back at the city hanging in the sky. It was weird how these things seemed to tie into his life. Or that might have just been the aftermath of coming back to life after being a ghost—but whatever it was, it was kind of creepy. _

_Lazily, Urameshi ran his fingers through his hair. It only occurred to him what might have happened if they had never bumped into one another that day; if they had never crossed paths…_

A lot of things would have never happened_, he decided. But most of all, he could almost feel that something more would be missing from him. She seemed to fill that void…but what it was exactly, he didn't really know; ever since she had turned their lives around, he couldn't understand what it was about her that made such a difference—_

"_There you are!"_

_Yusuke lifted his head off the ground to find Mai jogging down the slope towards him, her bright red ponytail bouncing behind her. She grinned and plopped onto the ground next to him. Her cheeks were flushed—probably from trudging up all the slopes looking for him._

"_You've been up here all day?" she wanted to know rather cheerfully._

_He shrugged and laid his head back on the grass, "Pretty much," he answered simply. The guardian beamed and fell backwards so that she too stared up at the sky._

_Her violet-speckled eyes shimmered beneath the sunlight, "It's nice up here," she smiled contently, "And it's a pretty day too…"_

_Urameshi turned his head towards her and stared for a moment. As he was watching her smile, a thought occurred to him…_

_Maybe…_

…_Maybe living upside-down wasn't all too bad…_

-:-

Kira dropped to her knees, trembling. Her eyes were wide as she covered her mouth with a quivering hand. The former guardian's _hakama_ sprayed out around her while tears streamed down her face.

_Mai-chan…_

Ayame leaned quietly over her, "Miss Kira?"

She shook her head and closed her teary eyes.

"…_Mai_…"

-:-

—_Blood suddenly spilled across the arena floor…_

_And Yusuke's eyes went blank with rage._

The crimson liquid seeped over Toguro's fingers and dribbled onto the ground steadily. The guardian's eyes went wide and the glow suddenly vanished from within them. Toguro's fingers twisted suddenly within her chest, causing a small whimper of pain to escape her.

He leaned towards her paling face and smirked—

His hand wrenching out of her.

Kurama's eyes grew wide, "…_no_..."

The apparition beside him clenched his fists, "Onna…"

Kazuma stared in horror from only a few feet away as blood was drained from her body; spilling almost endlessly over the ground beneath her. And he suddenly found himself shaking in both terror and rage. His eyes dilated and Mai's body went limp.

"You've done your job…" the apparition muttered.

He let her crumple to the ground.

"**_MAI!_**"

The air suddenly exploded around the arena. The golden wave of _chi_ that had been surrounding her had vanished, but the tension was stronger than ever. It literally sent tremors hurtling through the air. The waves however, were suddenly thrown into reverse. They raced back towards Mai; the energy growing even fiercer. It vibrated through the stadium towards her lifeless body.

All at one, the _ki_ erupted from around her. It spiraled, swirling furiously towards the top of the stadium. It enveloped the entire stadium with its blinding light. The golden glow rose up above her before it suddenly drifted back towards the earth…only this time it was redirected towards Yusuke…

It was drawn into his body, with or without him wanting it too. The golden haze surrounded him for only a moment before it vanished within his body…

But he seemed oblivious.

Kuwabara stumbled to his feet as he raced frantically towards the fallen guardian. Toguro vanished as he drew near. The redhead carefully lifted her arm over his shoulder as he tried to raise her up off the ground. The rest of their team rushed towards them.

"MAI!" Kurama shouted, "Come on Mai, don't fade on us! Don't leave us Mai—!"

His face fell suddenly and there was a look of horror that none of his teammates had seen on him before.

"…Mai…"

Toguro smirked from a little ways off.

"That's oddly anticlimactic…" he mused as he stared down at his bloody fingers, "In all truth you hardly knew her…but you had more than just a mutual friendship didn't you? And after all of that, she's finally gone…"

_Mai..._

The apparition watched as Yusuke trembled on his hands and knees.

"Do you think that was sufficient enough for you?" he continued darkly; his eyes flashing, "Or do I need to take another one of your friends for you to get the point?"

"_Live for me…Mai..."_

—"_Stop it Yusuke! I can't bear to think of you leaving me alone!"_

The detective drew his hands slowly up to his chest, his body still shaking violently.

…_but what about me…_

…_now…I'm alone…_

His gaze suddenly became hooded and he felt his body go numb.

Toguro's eyes flickered towards him when he saw him moving. Slowly, the detective lifted himself to his knees…and then stood at last. He stood hunched over, as if a sudden weight had burdened his heart…

Without warning, a wisp of energy rose up from the ground—

And Yusuke was no longer there.

The apparition's eyes widened furiously, "_NANI?_"

His eyes flashed as he sensed a presence suddenly behind him. He whirled and found the detective hunched over; resonating with a heavy green aura that had been flecked with bits of gold. It swayed around him eerily…

Toguro gritted his teeth slightly, _so I guess it was enough…_

There was a sad glow to Yusuke's eyes…they shimmered dully through the veil of his energy.

_The sacrifice was much too high…_

"You took my teacher, and now I let you take my friend…" he lowered his eyes towards the ground, "What the _hell_ do you want from me?" he asked bitterly; his voice shaking

_We tried to hide what we feared inside…_

A slow, sorrowful wind blew out from him while a panel of blue light appeared at his feet. The energy expanded out around him all of a sudden until it had completely enveloped the floor of the stadium. Small shockwaves blew out around his feet; the pulsars of energy drifting into the stands. Dust appeared in the path of the ringlets and rose into the air.

Yusuke's eyes stared off despondently at pure nothing.

There were orbs of blue light radiating from the clouds of dust. They swirled steadily around him and rose up slowly into the stands; drifting like hundreds of tiny spirits.

Kurama's eyes narrowed fiercely, "Alright Toguro…" he muttered, "You got what you wished for…"

_Today is the end of tomorrow_

The detective clenched his fist, "Don't you think I wanted to use my power, win this thing and go home?" he whispered quietly.

His opponent gleamed, "Of course."

Yusuke's eyes shimmered pitifully, "I just didn't know how to reach it…and now I have to live with that," he lowered them further into the ground, "I've been pathetic…but I won't let you take away any more of my friends…"

The orbs floating around him drifted into the stands; drifting between the audience members as the _chi_ swirling around the detective flared. His energy was skyrocketing to the point where it was nearly incomprehensible.

Touya stared in awe as the wisps of light floated past them, "Look at it…" he breathed.

"I'd say the wind is something not the same…" Jin said in wonderment.

Gripping her microphone, Koto watched the wisps of energy drift past her in marvel, "For all those still listening to this broadcast, Yusuke is emitting a stranger energy unlike anything we've seen from him before!"

"His feelings…" Botan said softly as one of the spirits brushed her arm, "I can practically taste them in the air…"

Keiko watched the arena sadly, "Yusuke…"

Below them, Kazuma stared aw-filled as the orbs of light drifted around them slowly. He turned with the guardian still in his arms, so that he could get a better look at them.

"Urameshi's energy…it's changing…"

Koenma's eyes were locked on the detective, "The loss of his friend is too great of a shock," he said, "The walls are coming down."

A thick and heavy silence suddenly fell over the arena as Yusuke stared silently down at the ground in front of him. And as if he had no control over his body, took a heavy step forward…followed slowly by another and another…

"_What the hell is wrong with you for making me worry over you like that!" the guardian demanded, "You're lucky you won, Yusuke or I'd give you a fight of my own!"_

—"_I had to make a choice, Yusuke!" she shouted angrily, "I had to become stronger to protect you; so I could remain your guardian! But in doing so I had to destroy Kira! Don't you understand!" she cried tearfully, "I destroyed a part of myself for you! I didn't want to lose one of my closest friends because I was too weak to protect them!"_

Yusuke took another grief-stricken step forward.

It was like…her memories…

…They were apart of his own…

"…_You're…you're not going to be alone while you're my guardian, don't you know that?"_

— _He grew silent all of a sudden when he noticed her smiling through the golden haze. His eyes widened as tears trickled down the guardian's face._

"…_Aishiteru…Yusuke..."_

The detective suddenly came to a stop; his shimmering eyes still fixated on the ground beneath him.

"_I love you…Yusuke…"_

"…Now let's do this," he said quietly, "I already said I'll never forgive you...Now I can never forgive myself, so let's just do this…"

The blue _chi_ suddenly swirled around him; rising high up into the air like a furious cyclone. It streamed through the entire stadium as a fierce blast of wind rushed across the arena towards the detective. His shoulders remained hunched over and he seemed unaware that he was even creating such a colossal stream of power. The energy created a barrier around him…but despite the fact that the color of it had changed…there was still a small hint of gold swaying with the blue…

Toguro watched him…

_Anxiety…and fear. It's been fifty years since I've felt those. At last I enter a fight for which I don't know the outcome…_there was a smirk that curled at his lips as the power mounted within Yusuke, _The tension is mounting in my neck…An ultimate fight with you, Yusuke; Genkai's dead, but one part remains. Now I fight her progeny and all things can be brought to a close…_

"I need to thank you Yusuke, for finally realizing your power," he commended smoothly, "You see, I couldn't finish this story with satisfaction…until you had become like me."

Suddenly, the apparition's eyes narrowed fiercely—

And he charged towards the detective.

"NOW YOUR POWER HAS REACHED THE LEVEL OF MINE!" he shouted as he raced forward.

Yusuke stared at the ground.

"You know that's a load of crap Toguro…" he said quietly.

The apparition raised his fist, "Is that so?" he demanded. But he didn't give him any time to respond. In another instant, Toguro's fist hooked around and slammed into the side of his face.

His attack neatly uprooted the detective from the ground; sending him spinning through the air until he painfully slammed into the ground. His body continued sliding through the dusty earth until it crashed into the wall behind him.

Kuwabara gritted his teeth, "Urameshi…"

"Toguro makes a solid right hook—and Yusuke does nothing to defend himself!" Koto shouted through her microphone as her tail twitched excitedly, "And he ground-slides all the way to the back wall!"

As the dust began to clear, Yusuke was seen amidst the fallen rubble; his face still bent towards the ground…

He hardly even stirred when he heard the tiny sound of breaking glass…

The precious shards tinkled to the ground below him…and something brushed over his hand.

He looked then; his eyes distant and shimmering in sorrow. The detective watched as the worn-out photograph skipped away from the shattered vial around his neck…

"You see?" Toguro asked him and Yusuke slowly raised his head, "I can tell that didn't actually hurt you. Earlier that punch would have left you unconscious. But now you can take it without even blocking and still get up to fight…" his eyes flashed, "If that's not a sign of equal power, what is?"

Urameshi's eyes drifted away from the apparition.

"You were right about one thing Toguro…That punch didn't hurt me…"

He shifted and slowly stood back on his feet.

"Yusuke's truly done it," Hiei said aloud, "He's learned how to battle on a level playing field with Toguro!"

Kurama's brow furrowed slightly, "Level, and yet at the same time it's completely different…"

As Yusuke stood, the blue aura returned. It rose off of him like steam; drifting slowly into the air and through those sitting within the stadium. The air resonated with the steady rhythm of the _chi_ emitting from him. The waves of energy slowly rose up above him; creating a similar cyclone effect from before. Then the _ki_ began to change…it suddenly went from a blue energy to a fierce red…and then simply back to blue again.

"Both their powers are mixing together…" Chuu said as the aura continued to alternate hues, "It's the real dinki-di, mates! It's got the strength of a ute, but for some reason it doesn't feel harmful…"

The shorter apparition beside him nodded, "Yeah, its weird! All a sudden I feel a whole lot better! Kinda like I'm being protected or something!"

Jin suddenly seemed sad, "It's such a melancholy wind he be firin'. Like I can feel all the sad on his inner sides pouring out into a big black empty…"

"Yusuke is locked in a struggle with his own emotions," Touya told him and the wind master turned, "A sense of guilt is reversing his power…His defense goes outward, guarding all of us in the stadium, while his attack is aimed solely on himself…"

The detective stared off sadly at the ground in front of him…

…He could feel her…

…it was all her energy…behind his own; forcing it onwards out through him…

Like she was holding on to him…

Toguro smirked as the detective's energy brushed past him.

"Are you hurting, Yusuke?" he asked mockingly, "Feeling guilty?"

Urameshi's eyes flashed towards him and clenched his teeth; the aura surrounding him suddenly flickering to red again. But the apparition only chuckled in response.

"Don't worry. It's like the chicken pox. Once you get over it the first time, it never comes back," he informed him coolly and his eyes narrowed, "Think Yusuke. What do you owe these people?"

A fiery aura suddenly exploded behind Toguro as his voice began to rise angrily.

"Why should you let their weakness drag you down? Throw off the bags of guilt and you can become as powerful as me!" he shouted, "Give yourself control! Believe in nothing but your own strength and it can never let you down!"

He saw the detective clench his fist and he chuckled again.

But Yusuke suddenly cut him off.

"Shut up, Toguro," he muttered darkly, "I'm not. Like. You…I…I won't just throw people away…"

The apparition smirked, "Can't let go?" he asked sardonically.

Urameshi's eyes narrowed slightly and he looked away at the ground, "I never would have gotten this far without these guys' help…And whenever I was getting my head rearranged, it's always cause I cared about _them_ that I could win…"

Toguro's eyes flashed and he pointed furiously at the detective, "And that's precisely the reason you've been limited up to now! YOU'RE TOO SOFT! You don't need anyone but yourself! _Don't you understand that!_"

As if confused, Yusuke slowly shook his head, "…_iie_…"

It was silent along the arena floor for a long time. The apparition still had his hand outstretched towards Urameshi; his finger pointing angrily.

But Toguro laughed suddenly and lowered his arm…

"Then I guess I need to kill another one of your friends."

Yusuke's eyes narrowed furiously as the apparition turned towards the opposing sidelines.

Kurama and Hiei gritted their teeth and stood defensively. Kazuma stepped back, still trying to protect Mai's corpse while the demigod beside him watched Toguro nervously. The apparition turned and raised his hand as if he were going to attack all of them at once—

But froze suddenly.

He turned his head and found Yusuke gripping his wrist. The detective's body flared with a monstrous amount of spirit energy; rising into the air in a furious crimson haze. Urameshi's gaze was hooded angrily and his free hand clenched at his side.

Toguro's eyes narrowed dangerously, "Let go," he muttered.

The detective's brow furrowed and his eyes almost looked…sad…

"I…somewhere inside, I…I respected you, you know that?" he said quietly, "Let's just say I haven't had many older guys to look up to. And what you seemed to have goin', it didn't look so bad…"

The energy around him suddenly strengthened. The ground beneath his feet cracked threateningly until nearly the entire floor had been covered with the tiny crevices.

"Genkai told me over and over again how stupid I was. But I saw your strength, and how no one could boss you around, no matter what!" he seemed to spit the words out with bitterness, "And I wanted that…"

Toguro smirked, "Hn, then you should take my advice."

"IDIOT!" he shouted angrily, "I'm not done! That's what I did want, until Genkai told me the rest."

"_He asked the committee to turn him from a human into a demon of the highest class. He left us so he could keep his youth and precious strength. Everyone has to fight with time, to find their place before their inevitable death…Toguro, he ran away from that fight. Don't you ever do the same, you son of a bitch. No human is ever a one man show. Every decision you make will affect the countless people who care about you. Do you understand…? You can just be a cocky kid anymore. You…have to…"_

"Since I started this whole tournament, I've learned the value of what you gave away. And I won't let it go! _Even if I have to give up my life too!_"

His fist suddenly tightened around Toguro's wrist. The bones cracked as sparks of black electricity raced through both the fighters.

The earth beneath them rumbled. Yusuke's energy alternated suddenly to blue and whipped around both of them. Swirling higher and higher into the air in a furious tornado of energy, it caused the earth to tremble further. It was the mere force of the _ki_ that sent boulders from the ground flying into the air; ripping fiercely at the ground beneath the fighters' feet.

Koenma watched in awe, "Yusuke."

"So he understands now…" the akage whispered.

The rubble continued to fly around them as did the swirling blue energy resonating from the detective. Both he and Toguro were left standing on a single platform; the ground elsewhere had disintegrated into a giant crater.

Toguro sneered, "I can see you're a disciple of Genkai in every way, a slave to your softer emotions…"

Urameshi glared furiously, "You shouldn't even be allowed to say her name…

"TODAY YOU DIE TOGURO!"

"Heh," the apparition watched him in amusement, "You go ahead and try—"

There was suddenly a flash of movement that crossed his path. And Yusuke slammed his fist into the other side of the apparition's head.

The force swiftly sent Toguro flying. He cried out as he crashed painfully into the ground, and kept going. His body slammed over and over again into the rubble lying scattered across the arena. The apparition collided with a large slab of the former ring and slid to a halt.

He grunted from beneath the pile of rubble as he shoved the slabs of concrete out of his way. As he emerged, it became evident that Yusuke's punch had clearly dismantled his neck—

Toguro's eyes widened suddenly when he saw the giant orb of blue light hurtling towards him compliments of the detective.

He cried out as the attack enveloped him, and crashed through the side of the stadium. The walls on the other side crumbled instantly as the _rei gan_ pierced through them and continued onwards through the forest. It tore furiously at the ground and anything in its path. The attack skimmed across the surface of the ocean when it ran out of land before it finally shot off into the sky and disappeared.

And when it had vanished…

Toguro was sitting in the mouth of the opening and Yusuke still had his finger pointed towards him.

"He's…super-Yusuke!" Koenma gaped.

Hiei snorted slightly, "Even his idiotic strategies have improved…"

"_WOW!_ Unreal!" Koto breathed in awe, "Yusuke delivers a ruthless one-two punch, knocking Toguro down with a hard right cross—then launching a spirit gun blast before the fallen beast could react! It's the first time I've ever seen Toguro on the ground!"

"In-Incredible…" Chuu whispered.

Rinku nodded slowly, "Yeah, you can say that again!"

Botan stared, "I think...we can really start hoping…" she said.

Below them in the ring, Yusuke pointed at his opponent; a smirk suddenly forming along his lips…but there was also something in his eyes that wasn't there before…

"Get on your feet," he called angrily, "I'm firing one last shot with all I got, and it's gonna end this fight one way or another. So no more stupid surprises or fakes. You show me everything you've got right now. If I win this time…

"I don't ever want to see you back up."

Toguro sat there for a moment before he smirked and slowly lifted himself up out of the surrounding rubble. With his hand, he easily cracked his neck back into place.

"Oh my!" Koto shouted, with a hint of small disgust, "Toguro is back up, realigning his head with the sturdiness of an action figure!"

Jin gaped, "A crazy one!" he cried in alarm.

The ice master furrowed his brow uncertainly, "Don't tell me Toguro is completely unharmed after that attack!"

"I'll tell ya, he's a total freak!" Rinku exclaimed.

The apparition below smirked as he watched Yusuke glaring furiously at him, "The eyes of determination…" he mused aloud, "I've encountered them many times on glory-seeking fools, and I always give their owners what they ask for. Nearly always it's a fight with me, and when I see they truly want it, I'm obliged to kill…But you've actually asked me to give it all I have…

"So be it."

Suddenly, the bones in his body began to crack…as the muscles attached to them bulged once again.

The announcer's eyes widened, "I thought we'd covered this, but Toguro seems to be making another increase!"

Toguro screamed suddenly and clenched his fists. His body bulged as if was going to explode from the mere power he was generating within himself. The area along his shoulders morphed and began to cover his head, expanding also out over his arms like armor. The muscles along his body rippled; deforming the apparition entirely. He screamed again as the flesh along his legs bulged. The strain tore at his pants and ripped apart the shoes along his feet…

As the transformation came to a close, it became apparent that if there had been any human-like qualities in Toguro's previous form…they weren't there anymore.

The apparition smirked again, "I admit I haven't been truthful. What I've always said was a hundred was more like eighty-five…"

Rinku gritted his teeth, "Aw man…"

"To fully become a master of a trade, you must commit your all to it and throw everything else away," he continued and pointed at Urameshi, "If you don't have the guts to do that, you will never be more than a groundling."

Yusuke narrowed his eyes, "_Ksht_. Damn you're stupid…" he muttered, "You didn't throw it away."

The apparition glared.

"You just ran away from it," he continued darkly, "Like a frightened little child."

Toguro's eyes narrowed and Yusuke grabbed his wrist with his hand; the index finger on his right pointing down towards the ground below him.

"I won't run and I won't let go."

He raised his hand and a spark of blue energy flickered at his finger.

_I'm doing just what you said, Genkai…I'm caring about you jerks all the way…_

Urameshi gritted his teeth as a blue aura suddenly swirled around him. The piercing azure light enveloping the stadium in its hazy glow. There was a gust of wind whipping at his feet now as it drew all the energy laying wasted in the arena towards him. Wave after wave rushed towards him in a giant blast of energy each time the bullet at his finger tip grew.

_I don't care if I never fire a blast again. I don't care if I die...The only thing I want to do now is make this shot with all the power I have!_

The _chi_ surrounding him was being absorbed by the mass. The wind was fiercer than ever as it whipped around the detective and raced through his body towards the glow at his fingertip. But by now the bullet was nearly exploding in its size as it now nearly doubled in Yusuke's height. Beneath him, the ground rumbled furiously as if it would give way at any second with its support now being drawn towards the detective.

Rinku stared in wonder, "Look at that!" he cried.

"Our cobber is makin' a last stand," the violet-haired apparition said quietly…

Toguro gritted his teeth as his eyes flared in anticipation. And he screamed suddenly. The energy continued to flow into Urameshi's bullet, but the apparition gripped his fists at his side. _Youki_ exploded from his body in one massive force and whipped through the air to counter Yusuke's power. The dark mist swirled demonically around him as he continued to push more and more energy into the air around him.

A fierce lightning crackled between the two fighters from the clashing energies…

Kurama watched them with gritted teeth, "They'll put their full powers against each other…"

The demigod furrowed his brow nervously, "I guess all we can do now is pray and let the man upstairs decide…"

Koto's hand was shaking as she gripped her microphone excitedly, "Whichever way this turns out—!"

"It's definitely the end…" Botan finished quietly.

The air was filled with the sounds of their screaming as the powers clashing in the arena became unbelievable. Urameshi's eyes were wide in fury as the orb at his finger continued to grow. The piercing light from Yusuke's spirit gun was blinding as it managed to envelope the entire island as well…The ground trembled nervously as if it too anticipated the outcome of this final blow.

"Right Yusuke!" Chuu shouted into the flaring energy, "Give him all you got!"

"Their energies are both pushed to the max!" the shorter apparition gaped.

"And not just, Rinku!" the wind master cried, "Righty up ta' max and beyond!"

Touya gritted his teeth, "They're putting their lives on this on final attack!"

Urameshi screamed again.

Kurama clenched his fist, "Yusuke!"

He was still raging into the swirling cyclone around him; his hand shaking from the strength it took to hold on to the bullet at his fingertip.

…_her hand…_

It was there…

…He could feel it encasing his own…

…_Mai…_

—"_Aishiteru…Yusuke…"_

His eyes widened wrathfully as he screamed again into the air and as a final rush of energy flowed through him…

_This one's for you._

"_I love you…Yusuke"—_

"**_REI GAN!_**"

The attack erupted. It enveloped the entire stadium with its blinding aura and the sense of pure power. The bullet ripped through Yusuke's finger and pushed him back; he staggered and braced himself against its power as it literally ripped across the arena. He screamed again as the energy charged through him…it was only Mai's energy that kept him going.

Through his finger now came bolts of golden light. They shot over his original attack and enveloped the blast in an aura of gold; crackling dangerously as spirit bullet strengthened in its size. Yusuke gritted his teeth as he struggled to hang on.

Toguro roared out furiously as he charged out to meet the attack. He cried out in rage as he through out a hand to try and stop it.

He grunted as the muscles along his back bulged from the strain. Despite his attempts, he suddenly slid backwards. And as he continued to hold on to the blast, blood spurted from his hand and Toguro screamed in rage as dark electricity crackled along his arm. He furiously gritted his teeth as he thrust his other hand against the glowing bullet.

"Toguro's barely holding it back!" Kuwabara cried.

The demigod beside him nodded almost in awe, "Yes, it is unusual seeing _him_ on the defensive."

Urameshi gritted his teeth against the force pushing back against him while the apparition on the other side of his attack did the same; he didn't dare lessen his hold on the attack.—

Suddenly the detective's eyes widened and he gasped.

It was then that the energy flowing through him began to die away…

"He's fading!" Kurama shouted frantically.

As he spoke, the remainder of Yusuke's energy depleted and vanished. The detective gasped for air suddenly as he stood breathing heavily…and he finally dropped to his knees. He watched helplessly at his attack now that it was on its own…

For a moment, Sakyo stood with a grin across his face…but that suddenly faded when he realized that apparition was still holding on to the orb of glowing energy…and it was steadily pushing him backwards.

"Toguro has not released himself from the spirit gun yet…" Hiei pointed out.

"But if this blast isn't enough to make him fall, Urameshi will have no power left to fight him!" Kuwabara realized with a jolt, "He won't stand a chance after that!"

Koenma clenched his fist as he gnawed at the end of his pacifier, "Come on Yusuke! Make the thing work!"

But the detective could only watch powerlessly as Toguro held off his attack…

The apparition grunted as the blast continued to force him back. His muscles bulged suddenly, and blood erupted from his back after much toil and strain…

Jin's eyes grew wide, "He's losin' it!" he cried.

Toguro's feet dug fiercely into the earth as he tried to fight back. But as the blast continued to push him further and further towards the edge of the stadium, he suddenly screamed as he managed to wrap his arms around the monstrous attack. In desperation now, he steadily began to crush the glowing bullet against him…but his body began to crack in the process. He screamed again as the blast grew smaller and smaller—

Until it finally vanished within Toguro's grasp.

The remaining energy evaporated into the air in a wisp of blue light…

And a heavy, stun-filled silence weighed down over the stadium.

The apparition stood hunched over, breathing heavily; his body scorched and steaming. He stood frozen as if the attack had left him paralyzed, but his body shuddered with each breath he took.

A flash of defeat crossed over Yusuke's weary eyes…

He grunted and fell forward into the earth.

Koto stared wide-eyed in disbelief, "Its…it's over…" she whispered.

Toguro straightened slowly; his body creaking as if it were ready to give way at any second. His foot stepped outward, as did his other foot until he was well on his way towards the detective on the other side of the arena.

Steadily, he came to a halt in front of him; a smile etched along his deformed face.

"I killed Genkai…but one remained…" he said quietly as a trickle of blood streamed down the corner of his mouth and he continued to smile, "And now that surviving piece can at last be put to rest…"

All of a sudden, crevices appeared all along the apparition's body.

They race all along his arms and shoulders and seemed to all congregate at the center of his face.

Sakyo stared in horror, "This…is not good…"

Toguro continued to watch the detective at his feet.

"Thank you again…Yusuke Urameshi…"

His eyes widened. With a cry and a sound that could have been mistaken for breaking glass, fragments of his body shattered into the air around him. The shards that broke away left nothing more than his true body hiding beneath the shell…

The body staggered.

_This was the first time I could use my absolute strength…and you answered. _

_It was the only way it could end…_

His body toppled; dropping to the ground and sliding across the dusty arena…

A horrible silence filled the air…

Keiko stared wide-eyed down at the base of the stadium, "…Yusuke…?"

The kitsune announcer blinked slowly, "That's…hard to call…" she said.

"They're _both_ out?" Koenma cried in disbelief.

Kazuma gritted his teeth, "Urameshi…"

From a little ways off, and behind a rather large chunk of the former ring, Juri stepped out of hiding nervously. She made her way carefully towards the fallen bodies and leaned over Toguro's—only to cry out in alarm when she saw the state it was in…

What might have finally passed as human was no more. The skin along his body had gone white and was peeling off; if there had been any of his bones visible, it would have been difficult to tell…

But as the announcer studied the state of Toguro's body, a single intake of air swept across the stadium.

…even Hiei had a grin etched along his face.

"Juri!" Koto shouted frantically, "Behind you!"

She whirled…and blinked.

Yusuke staggered as he lifted himself off of his knees. With a final call of strength, he was at last able to stand his ground and he stood; staring rather…sadly at the ground beneath him…

"He did it!" Koenma cried.

The akage beside him let out a small sigh of relief, "Yusuke…"

Hiei snorted, "Hn."

Botan suddenly latched onto Shizuru's arm excitedly, "We can go home now, Shizuru!" she cried in her joyous celebration.

Kazuma carefully cradled the guardian's lifeless body and his eyes narrowed darkly, "Yeah…but at what cost…?"

The kitsune announcer hopped over the railing separating her from the fighting arena. Yusuke merely stared at the ground in front of him; the emotion within his eyes drawing a blank.

Koto raced towards Juri's side and in unison, they raised they're hands above their heads.

"_WINNER OF THE TOURNAMENT! TEAM URAMESHI!_"

-:-

_:Far better it is to dare mighty things,_

_To win glorious triumphs even though checkered by failure,_

_Than to rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy nor suffer much because they live in the gray twilight that neither knows victory nor defeat:_

**Theodore Roosevelt**


	39. Aishiteru

DISCLAIMER: I do not own YYH but everything that is original is mine.

a/n: MWAHAHA! THE 3RD INUYASHA MOVIE IS MINE! Hehe, man they just keep getting better! And I loved the parts with Inu-papa :fangirl giggle!

Anywhos…Not quite sure where I'm gonna go with this chapter…so the beginning might kinda suck, but that's alright.

I also decided to end this fic on an even note (I was gonna have an epilogue but I'll put that somewhere else) so it'll be this chapter and the next one—and then we're done! HURRAH!

Cookies to my reviewers!

Umeko Saito: _Technically_ it's not over quite yet :nervous laugh: only a couple more chapters though :3

Shadowkitsune7: Aw, thank you; I tried to make it kinda devastating but I'm hoping that his emotions will be more apparent in this chapter (depending on how well I write it this time, lol)

BlueWater26: Thank you! Yeah it was a pretty quick update…haha, I was on a roll that weekend

Fangimation: Now now, I will not reveal my spoilers :3 but yeah she really did love him (hence the whole dying thing :nervous laugh:)

Little Sakura 87: HAPPY BIRTHDAY! or FELICE COMPLEAÑOS! (in Spanish) Haha, and I'm glad I was able to give you a birthday present (in a sense I guess, lol) Hehe, and yes there would be no point to a sequel if I didn't bring her back :3

WARNING: This chapter is RIDICULOUSLY long so I'd advice you have a bunch of free time before reading this XD.

_Thoughts_

_:Some prices are just too high, no matter how much you may want the prize. The one thing you can't trade for your heart's desire is your heart:_

**Lois McMaster Bujold**

_Forever Fornever II_

:Aishiteru:

"**_REI GAN!_**"

The attack erupted. It enveloped the entire stadium with its blinding aura and the sense of pure power. The bullet ripped through Yusuke's finger and pushed him back; he staggered and braced himself against its power as it literally ripped across the arena. He screamed again as the energy charged through him…it was only Mai's energy that kept him going.

Through his finger now came bolts of golden light. They shot over his original attack and enveloped the blast in an aura of gold; crackling dangerously as spirit bullet strengthened in its size. Yusuke gritted his teeth as he struggled to hang on.

Toguro roared out furiously as he charged out to meet the attack. He cried out in rage as he through out a hand to try and stop it.

Urameshi gritted his teeth against the force pushing back against him while the apparition on the other side of his attack did the same; he didn't dare lessen his hold on the attack.—

Suddenly the detective's eyes widened and he gasped.

It was then that the energy flowing through him began to die away…

The remainder of Yusuke's energy depleted and vanished. The detective gasped for air suddenly as he stood breathing heavily…and he finally dropped to his knees. He watched helplessly at his attack now that it was on its own…

For a moment, Sakyo stood with a grin across his face…but that suddenly faded when he realized that apparition was still holding on to the orb of glowing energy…and it was steadily pushing him backwards.

The detective could only watch powerlessly as Toguro held off his attack…

The apparition grunted as the blast continued to force him back. His muscles bulged suddenly, and blood erupted from his back after much toil and strain…

Toguro's feet dug fiercely into the earth as he tried to fight back. But as the blast continued to push him further and further towards the edge of the stadium, he suddenly screamed as he managed to wrap his arms around the monstrous attack. In desperation now, he steadily began to crush the glowing bullet against him…but his body began to crack in the process. He screamed again as the blast grew smaller and smaller—

Until it finally vanished within Toguro's grasp.

The remaining energy evaporated into the air in a wisp of blue light…

And a heavy, stun-filled silence weighed down over the stadium.

The apparition stood hunched over, breathing heavily; his body scorched and steaming. He stood frozen as if the attack had left him paralyzed, but his body shuddered with each breath he took.

A flash of defeat crossed over Yusuke's weary eyes…

He grunted and fell forward into the earth.

Toguro straightened slowly; his body creaking as if it were ready to give way at any second. Steadily, he came to a halt in front of him; a smile etched along his deformed face.

"I killed Genkai…but one remained…" he said quietly as a trickle of blood streamed down the corner of his mouth and he continued to smile, "And now that surviving piece can at last be put to rest…"

All of a sudden, crevices appeared all along the apparition's body. They race all along his arms and shoulders and seemed to all congregate at the center of his face.

Toguro continued to watch the detective at his feet.

"Thank you again…Yusuke Urameshi…"

His eyes widened. With a cry and a sound that could have been mistaken for breaking glass, fragments of his body shattered into the air around him. The shards that broke away left nothing more than his true body hiding beneath the shell…

The body staggered and his body toppled; dropping to the ground and sliding across the dusty arena…

From a little ways off, and behind a rather large chunk of the former ring, Juri stepped out of hiding nervously. She made her way carefully towards the fallen bodies and leaned over Toguro's—only to cry out in alarm when she saw the state it was in…

What might have finally passed as human was no more. The skin along his body had gone white and was peeling off; if there had been any of his bones visible, it would have been difficult to tell…

But as the announcer studied the state of Toguro's body, a single intake of air swept across the stadium.

"Juri!" Koto shouted frantically, "Behind you!"

She whirled…and blinked.

Yusuke staggered as he lifted himself off of his knees. With a final call of strength, he was at last able to stand his ground and he stood; staring rather…sadly at the ground beneath him…

The kitsune announcer hopped over the railing separating her from the fighting arena. Yusuke merely stared at the ground in front of him; the emotion within his eyes drawing a blank.

Koto raced towards Juri's side and in unison, they raised they're hands above their heads.

"_WINNER OF THE TOURNAMENT! TEAM URAMESHI!_"

Cheers and cries of joy erupted from around the stadium as the announcement resonated through the stands. At last it was finally over…

They could finally go home…

The detective was breathing heavily now, but he hardly seemed to notice—even when he fell face-first back into the ground. His teammates started and immediately raced to his side, though Kazuma lagged behind…

"Yusuke!"

Kurama made it to him first and carefully lifted his arm over his shoulder, "Easy does it Yusuke! No sleeping just yet!"

Urameshi only stared off vacantly at the ground, as if he wasn't even there. His body was cold and unmoving and there wasn't even depth left in his eyes…as if he wasn't even alive for that matter…

"Snap out of it, Yusuke!" Koenma cut in angrily, "You—! You have your victory…"

The demigod trailed off suddenly; his tone bitter as his eyes flickered back behind him where Kuwabara still was with the guardian's body. Kazuma hadn't even budged from his spot, but now he sat on the ground next to the corpse; his head cradled in his hands.

"_You went through all that trouble with Genkai's training and her spirit orb…and you don't even know how to use it," she let out a short, hollow laugh, "Heh…you really are something else…"_

The detective's hands clenched the ground beneath him slowly.

"_But we had a good run right?"_

Yusuke stood suddenly; shoving the akage out of his way in one swift and sudden motion. His teammates watched him worriedly as he trudged back across the arena floor; the detective's shoulders still hunched from the burden enveloping his heart…

His eyes grew hooded beneath a veil of darkness…

_That stupid bitch…_

His foot dropped heavily onto the ground as he continued forward. To him, the entire world went silent…all save for his feet grinding the gravel beneath him. It all became a blur of fuzzy shadows and illusions of his mind…

The only thing that remained clear to him was the guardian's lifeless body…

Something pushed him onward, but it hardly seemed as though he realized where he was going anymore. There was a single path laid out before him and he took it; his feet falling heavily into the ground. His eyes remained downcast at the gravel beneath him and distant from the surrounding world.

He suddenly dropped to the ground beside the corpse and Kazuma's trembling form. His legs crossed slowly and he shoved his fists in his lap. The detective's eyes remained disheartened and hooded from all while the remaining members of his team came up behind him.

He sat there silent for a long time; his fists still tucked in his lap. Yusuke continued to stare off blankly at the ground. But after a while, his knuckles went white as he clenched his fists in the folds of his pants and his arms shook.

"Haha…" he muttered in hardly more than a whisper, "Real funny Mai…you can stop faking now; you're a really bad act…"

His teammates watched him sadly as he went quiet again. Urameshi's head bent further into his chest and his shoulders trembled violently.

On the other side of her body, Kuwabara was struggling not to cry. He furiously shut his eyes and clenched his fists in his lap. But that did not stop the procession of the tears coming down his face.

Yusuke didn't move, "…Well you made Kuwabara cry…heh, but nobody wants to see that…"

He suddenly gritted his teeth and his fingers dug further into the cloth of his pants.

_He sighed, but said nothing. After a long, hesitant pause, the detective found himself reaching out to her. And without waiting for a reaction, his arms suddenly wrapped around her and pulled her towards his chest._

_It was almost as if she hadn't even noticed, but her sobs continued. Her tears stained his shirt, even though Urameshi didn't seem to mind. The detective wrapped his arms around her in a protective fashion just as he felt her hands clutching weakly at his shirt._

_Both of them sat in silence for the longest time—all save for Mai's muffled sobs. From a little ways off, Kira watched the pair curiously with her head cocked. Yusuke pressed her tighter to him and Mai let out a small hiccup._

"_You're…You really are hopeless you know that?" he said quietly._

"Come on and wake up, Mai…I want to go home…"

Urameshi gripped at the ground suddenly; his fingers digging into the earth as his body began to tremble in anger. His knuckles went white and his back hunched further. In another instant, he suddenly punched the ground and his eyes shot upwards.

"…_You're…you're not going to be alone while you're my guardian, don't you know that?"_

In one swift motion, he suddenly grasped her by the collar and wrenched her off the ground.

"Yusuke!"

"Listen, you stupid idiot…" he muttered to the corpse, ignoring his other teammates, "I swear to _hell_ that if you don't get up, I'll just shove your soul back down your damn throat!" his eyes shone furiously, "Stop faking already! Dammit! Wake up Mai!"

His shoulders began to shake suddenly and several angry tears plummeted to the ground below him. But he would not release the girl in his hands…

"_Shikuso_…" he whispered softly to the earth, "…_damn it all_…"

_You stupid idiot…why wouldn't you just let me save you? Why did you have to be so stubborn!_

Yusuke's knuckles clenched over the fabric of her collar and he watched as her head lolled to the side. Angry tears brimmed at his eyes as he gritted his teeth.

"It's not okay…" he muttered darkly, "It's not okay…"

He punched the ground again.

"DAMMIT! If I hadn't been such an irresponsible kid—if I didn't have a concrete wall between me and my stupid emotions…"

"_I'll pick out her heart, Urameshi…that way you'll be able to cherish her even in death," came the apparition's voice._

_The color suddenly drained from his face and the luster vanished from his eyes._

"…_No…"_

_Mai dangled in Toguro's grip; his sickly gray fist clenched around her throat…just like in some terrible horrible dream…His hand clenched tighter and the guardian let out a strained cry out pain, but refused to attempt and free herself. The chi around her flickered dangerously as she hung suspended in the apparition's grip._

"_Now…" Toguro turned towards the guardian in his grasp, "…You will show me the power he has been hiding…"_

"_**TOGURO!**"_

Yusuke gritted his teeth furiously, "I had all the strength to save her. I was just too dumb to know how to reach it. She sacrificed everything…and I just sat there and watched her die! What the _hell_ do I say to that, huh?"

Behind him, the akage clenched his fist at his side, "You're not helping, Yusuke…"

"Shut up, Kurama!" he shouted furiously over his shoulder and his grip tightened around the guardian's collar, "Just shut up! She wasn't supposed to die! _She wasn't supposed to die!_"

Angry tears plummeted down his face and he clenched his teeth.

_You weren't supposed to die…_

"You hear me?" he shouted back at the corpse in his hands, "I can't say anything to you because you had to be an idiot and get yourself killed! I can't say anything to you now! Is that so hard to get?" he clenched his fist and tears streamed down his face, "_Shikuso_…"

His fists shook violently as he glared at the guardian in his hands; his eyes shimmering in anger.

The detective's arms suddenly wrapped around her. His shoulders trembled as he held her to him; the guardian's bloody wound seeping over his chest. The crimson liquid trickled over his skin and caked over into a deep red, but he seemed oblivious to it. He gripped her shoulders furiously.

"Dammit Mai…" he whispered, his voice shaking, "Dammit you stupid bitch!"

_Why wouldn't you let me help you?_

Urameshi gripped her shoulders further. He had done it to save her life…but when she really was in danger, he wasn't able to do shit…

All he did was delay the inevitable.

—And it didn't help that Genkai had to remind Toguro about it either!

"Idiot…" he muttered.

_She smiled gently and suddenly pointed upwards, "Oh look, Yusuke!" Mai cried and stared up at the sky, "It's snowing!"_

…but Mai was gone…

She suddenly slipped from his grasp and he covered his head with his bloody hands. His eyes shimmered furiously and he glared at the ground as he pulled his head to his knees.

"_Aishiteru…Yusuke…"_

"_Aishiteru_…" he whispered, "_Aishiteru_? Who the hell says that before they die!" he shouted, "It's like breaking a damn promise!"

He punched the ground and sent tiny crevices racing out around his hand.

"Damn it all…Damn it all…!" he muttered furiously, "DAMN IT ALL! It's because I…because I was so spineless that she was…" he clenched his fist; his nails digging furiously into his palm, "…Mai…what do I say to Mai? I just stood by and watched her die! She died right before my eyes! I wasn't able to do anything! What I'm I supposed to say to her?"

_We came too far together…and to have her just die like that…_

_Dammit! I'm not gonna give up that easily!_

—_Koenma's eyes narrowed, "Mai doesn't plan to fight Toguro…because she plans to give up all of her energy to Yusuke. But to do that successfully…to transport energy from one soul to another…Toguro must kill her…"_

"Idiot…" he whispered again, "…I didn't need your damn energy, I had all of it on my own—don't you understand that? What the hell were you thinking…_what the hell were you thinking…_?"

_You promised we were stuck together…_

"What about now? Dammit! What kind of promise is that when you can't even depend on your own damn self to keep it! Stupid! Idiot! What the hell were you thinking?"

His hand twitched softly at his side. The detective's eyes suddenly faded back into shadow and he stared blankly at the corpse in front of him.

"_But you're stuck with me."_

_The detective watched her for a moment before he noticed her gaze soften slightly. He then saw a smile curve along her lips._

"_So deal with it."_

_She plopped down against the wall as Yusuke began to smile as well. He shook his head as he pulled at another strip of tape. Once again, he busied himself with his project and another silence filled the void between them. Urameshi paused and rolled his shoulders casually._

"_Is that a promise?"_

_Mai blinked, "What?"_

_He set his tools on the ground and turned to face the guardian, "That you're stuck with me…is that a promise?"_

"Liar…" he murmured despondently, "…you're a damn liar…"

_You said you were stuck with me…_

"…you made a promise…" his hand slowly dragged along the dirt at his feet. The cold feel of her skin brushed beneath his fingertips as he traced her hand. Again his fingers folded into a fist, "…You made a promise Mai…"

He blinked slowly; as if he was trying to focus the fuzziness of his vision. There was a dim flicker of light that flashed beneath the depths of his eyes.

"And I won't let you break that to me…"

_I won't let you leave me alone…_

The demigod behind him blinked suddenly when a flash of energy enveloped Yusuke's fists. It crackled furiously up and down the length of his arm; a faint hint of gold snapping at his _chi_. There were sudden crevices racing out around the detective and tiny pebbles around him clattered restlessly. Kurama and Hiei watched uncertainly and even Kuwabara managed to watch through his watering eyes.

A sorrowful mist seemed to surround the detective…and it flared a dangerous red regardless of his vacant demeanor…

And despite this, Yusuke seemed oblivious to the tumult he was causing.

…_I'm not letting you go without a fight..._

There was a quiet wind that rustled the earth around him; letting his hair sway sadly in front of his face as he continued to watch the guardian's corpse laying before him…

And as if drawn by an invisible wire, his arms raised above her body and the energy surrounding him suddenly strengthened.

_You gave me all of your energy…_

"…and I'll give you mine…" he whispered.

Koenma's eyes widened, "Yusuke! _WAIT!_"

_Please…_

…_Give all my time to her…_

It was a silent eruption. There was no thunder or noise to be heard, but the energy that suddenly exploded within the stadium was a monstrosity, and those who could sense it were thrown into a whirl of Yusuke's conflicting emotions.

_Ki_ flowed from his hands and into the guardian; causing her body to pulsate with a similar glow resonating off of the detective

His companions watched as little by little, it became apparent that Yusuke was losing his energy to this feat. Sweat perspired off of his brow as his arms began to tremble above the guardian's body, but he seemed ignorant of the pain he was causing himself, and continued to pour of his _chi_ into the lifeless body…

"Yusuke!"

_You sacrificed your energy for me…and now I'll just have to do the same for you…_

The detective's heart pounded pleadingly in his ears; begging him to stop.

_Heh…even if it kills me…_

Urameshi's energy flared out around him. He felt his strength leaving him at a dangerous rate, but nothing would tear him away from trying the impossible. His body was shaking violently, but he was oblivious to any pain he might have been feeling and the _ki_ continued to flow through his hands.

But his power flickered warningly.

"You'll kill yourself!"

The words echoed through his ears, but his mind would not comprehend them. Through his blurry vision, he kept his eyes constantly on the guardian's body.

Kuwabara stared in horror. Did he not realize what he was doing to himself? He wondered frantically; was he immune or something to the pain his body was going through? He was killing himself! How could he not see that?

"_Dammit Urameshi!_"

Yusuke swayed suddenly, but he steadied himself. Unless he keeled over dead right there, he wasn't going to stop trying…dammit, if her energy could have been transferred to him, he could sure as hell do the same…

But Koenma was right; he'd probably have to kill himself first…

Behind him, the shorter apparition clenched his fist, "…_baka tantei…_"

Heh…at least if he died and failed, he'd have a chance to personally go after Mai for getting him into this whole mess…and for making him die _again_.

"_Yusuke!_"

_Stupid bitch…you can't leave me alone for one fight can you? Instead, you have to go and get yourself killed…What an idiot…_

…_what an idiot…_

He noticed the energy at his fingertips flicker as if it was having trouble forming enough power. His vision blurred even further, but not from the tears that were brimming in his eyes…

_But I'm not giving up Mai…_

"URAMESHI!"

_I'm sure as hell not gonna give up on you…_

Suddenly, the detective's gaze was wrenched away from Mai's face. He blinked slowly; his mind not quite comprehending where he was anymore. Instead he was abruptly force to look up at Hiei, who was fiercely gripping him by the collar; his crimson eyes flaring.

"Listen to me, detective Yusuke Urameshi…" he muttered darkly as his eyes flashed, "If you think you can revive her on your own—you're just the _aho_ _ningen_ I always though you were…"

The apparition's fist tightened.

"…The _onna_ died because _you can't do it alone_."

He glared at Yusuke before he roughly let go of his collar. But without warning, another blast of energy was added on to the detective's as the apparition raised his scorched hand over Mai's body; allowing his own _chi_ to flow into her. Despite his lack in strength and the sweat beading at his brow, his face remained tight and unmoving.

Yusuke caught movement out of the corner of his eye and turned slowly.

The _akage_ dropped to his knees beside Urameshi and followed his lead; raising his hands over the guardian's body as his own meager energy filed in with the others. And across from him, Kazuma had joined in and his own orange energy flowed from his hands with the last remaining strength he contained within himself.

Behind them, the demigod paused hesitantly; his hand rose in front of his mouth as if he was preparing to remove the pacifier…but for some reason, decided against it and clenched his fists.

Urameshi clenched his own fists fiercely before he abruptly resumed his position over her body. The last tiny wisps of _ki_ crawled desperately from his fingertips and sweat perspired once again from his brow.

_Please Mai…we're all here—you can't be such a tight-ass bitch that you wouldn't come back after this—_

_So dammit! You better wake your ass up!_

-:-

_Yusuke looked up suspiciously from his plate at the girl in front of him. Her head rested absently along the palm of her hand as she gazed out the window at the people passing by._

_Around them, the small café buzzed cheerfully, but the detective continued to watch Mai. She seemed deep in thought and almost oblivious to what was going on around them. Maybe she was wondering where the others were? He had to admit that even Kuwabara was running late…_

_He swallowed hard on the piece of cake he was eating…but…but maybe she was thinking about…a-about him…_

_The detective gulped…_

_But…about what? He wondered nervously and popped another forkful of the cake into his mouth. With her, you never knew what she was thinking—_

_And it drove him crazy!_

_What if she was thinking about why he and Kuwabara hadn't fixed that hole in the bathroom wall—?_

_Wait a minute…_

_He did fix the hole in the wall! And without Kuwabara's help!_

_So what could she—?_

…

_Urameshi's heart sank suddenly…_

_She…she might be thinking about him and Keiko…he swallowed hard; right now, she could be slowly building up her hatred for him little by little—_

_Unexpectedly, the guardian sighed. She turned her head back towards her own plate and cut off a piece of her cake._

_Yusuke watched her munch on it slowly. After she had swallowed, Mai rested her head on the back of her hand and turned her attention towards the detective…_

Shit, here it comes_…he thought dismally and instinctively braced himself against an assault._

"_Have you ever noticed that you're name sounds a lot like 'mousse cake'?" she wondered._

_He blinked, _what the hell?

"_I just noticed that…" she continued normally. Mai paused a moment and smiled; her eyes shimmering, "It's kind of funny."_

_Urameshi blinked again, "That's what you've been thinking about all this time?" he wondered miraculously, "Hell, you spend a lot of time thinking about that sort of crap…" he said and could only stare at her._

_She smiled again nodded; "Yup..." she stopped and eyed him suspiciously, "Why? What did _you_ think I was thinking about?"_

_Yusuke jumped guiltily and glanced out the window, mumbling something incoherently under his breath. He paused before he finally answered, "Nothing…"and he absently stabbed a fork through his slice of cake; making sure it met the fury of his utensil._

_But as the guardian went back to her dessert, he frowned in her direction…_

"_You really think it sounds like 'mousse cake'?"_

_She grinned and tapped the side of her nose, "'You're-a-messy mousse cake!'" she chimed teasingly. He scowled and folded his arms over his chest, but she laughed and turned her gaze towards the window yet again—only to smile once more._

"_Kuwabara's here," she said simply._

_Yusuke turned to face the window and narrowed his eyes when he caught sight of the redhead with his face plastered against the window; grinning enthusiastically. Kurama soon appeared behind him and smiled._

_The detective watched Kuwabara make a fool of himself a moment longer before he abruptly slammed his fist along the window pane; startling Kazuma and receiving an angry glare from the manager. The redhead on the other side of the window made several angry gestures as Kurama stood nervously beside him, but his voice remained muffled (all save for an occasional "you son of a bitch!")_

_Mai grinned while the two of them finally started making their way into the café._

"'_Bout time…" the detective grumbled._

"_Come on, Yusuke…" the guardian said as she set her fork back down on her plate, "You gotta learn to be more patient…" she told him with a teasing glint in her eyes, "If I were late, you would still wait for me right?"_

_He snorted as he turned back to face her, "To hell I would; make me wait more than fifteen minutes and I'll put your lights out. You'd be heading out on your own after that."_

"—_Ah, don't listen to him Mai!" Kazuma said suddenly when he appeared beside his friend. He slid into the booth beside Yusuke, and Kurama found the spot next to the guardian on the opposite side, "I don't think he really means what he says," he finished with a grin._

"_Speak for yourself, why don't you?" the detective muttered._

"_It's true though, isn't it?" Kurama asked casually cutting into the conversation and he offered a small smile, "It's been nearly impossible to separate either of you lately; I highly doubt Yusuke would so easily leave you behind…"_

_The detective frowned, "Not you too, Kurama…"_

_The akage grinned sheepishly, "Sorry Yusuke, I just call them as I see them."_

_Beside them, Mai smiled, "'It's true, I'm stuck on you'!" she sang as she pointed a finger at the detective. He mumbled something under his breath and started attacking his slice of cake again. The group laughed as he continued to destroy what remained of his dessert._

"_Didn't we already have that conversation?" he grumbled as he stuffed a forkful into his mouth._

_She nodded and smiled, "I'm just making sure you remember, 'You're-a-messy mousse cake'!"_

_He scowled and ignored the confused glances of Kurama and Kuwabara who remained oblivious to the joke._

_But Mai simply continued to smile…_

_­_-:-

Urameshi gasped and staggered. His entire body was shaking and trembling from the lack of energy he required to support himself. He had given back Mai's energy and so much more, and now his teammates appeared to be struggling desperately to continue their efforts.

"_Look Yusuke! It's snowing!"_

He furiously gritted his teeth; the energy crackling at his fingertips threatened to deplete completely, but he would not allow it.

Angry tears filled his eyes as his nails dug fiercely into his palm.

…_no…_

They had come too far together…

…they were too far from giving up now…

The detective gritted his teeth; forcing another wave of _chi_ through his hands and into her body. Her lifeless form remained…in all things…lifeless. The only thing that might have appeared to be alive was the fierce aura that swayed around her; created only by her desperate companions…

…Death was just another obstacle in their way…

And just like everything else, they would overcome it…

"Hear that?" he muttered, "No one's gonna die here today—and I'm just stupid enough to make sure that happens, whether it takes my life or not…"

His gaze suddenly became hooded as he began to draw in deeply the air surrounding him.

"_HEAR ME?_ I won't let you die on me!" he shouted angrily into the air, "DAMMIT! I don't care if I have to give up my life for yours! You weren't supposed to die in the first place Mai!"

…Why wasn't she waking up…?

Tears of despair were filling up in his eyes again and his clenched his fists. His nails dug deeply into his palm, causing droplets of blood to dot the ground beneath him. There was an angry tear that followed after as he fought back the cry of despair crawling at his throat.

"_It's snowing!"_

"…if you don't get up it won't ever snow again Mai…" he said in hardly more than a whisper, "You ain't gonna miss that are you? You'd be disappointed if you did…Yukina and those guys would miss making those crappy-looking snowmen you guys made…"

The detective's eyes sunk deeper into the veil of shadow covering his face. His energy flickered at his fingertips; drawing its last remains from every corner of his body, and even then it wasn't enough. Yusuke's entire body was trembling as his companions began to fade.

_What does snow become…?_

Urameshi braced himself against the pain surging through him. His body cried in agony; pleading him to give up and relieve it of its pain. But he would be dead before he let that happen…

…He too had made a promise…

The mist swaying around him flickered and started to fade away.

_What does it become Yusuke?_

His fists clenched and his arms began to shake in defeat.

"…_it becomes spring…_"

_No matter what…_

"…it always becomes spring…"

Yusuke's heart pounded fiercely in his ears as he hung his head. His eyes stared at the ground vacantly and they shimmered in being overcome. And despite the fact that he had lowered his arms, his body continued to tremble…

But he had made a promise…

The detective's companions watched him worriedly; hesitating as if debating whether or not quit their attempts as well…

…he wasn't going to break that promise…

He swore that he wouldn't…

"_You'll never be alone…"_

His shoulders slumped; the burden over his heart spreading slowly. Around him, the silent _ki_ was fading back from whence it came and began to disappear into the wind. But the detective only continued to stare blankly at the ground below him.

_Don't leave…_

"…_Mai…_"

…_don't leave…_

Yusuke clenched his fists slowly; his fingers curling into his palm and angry tears of defeat started to fill his eyes, "…please don't…"

Around his hand, pebbles began to clatter restlessly as a wind picked up across the floor of the stadium. It brushed past the detective noiselessly and continued to swirl sadly around him, but he, like with everything else, remained oblivious.

"_I want to go home together…_" he whispered.

_I don't want to leave you here._

The wind around him brushed over the top of his hand. His eyes flickered slowly as he watched how it brushed the hair across the guardian's placid face. He wanted to see her eyes open again…he wanted to see her smile and tell him how much of an ass he was…

_He wanted them to go home together…_

Yusuke's hand twitched softly at his side as the wind began to pick up around him. And from out of no where, his_ chi_ suddenly returned; steadily at first, but it then began to resonate heavily with the detective's despairing emotions racing through his heart. Those in the stadium continued to watch in silent awe as the energy pulsated around him once more; but where he found the strength was still unknown.

The rest of his team began again in unison; they too suddenly calling upon strength from out of no where.

_Let's go home together, Mai…_

"…I want to go home…"

His body flared with the blast of _ki_ racing along the floor of the arena. Yusuke's heart once again pounded within his ears, but he ignored it as the energy started to beat around him. The air was suddenly thick with the constant flow of power resonating from the team, but somehow, Urameshi's seemed to rise above all of theirs.

He wasn't letting her go…

…He promised he would never let her be alone…

"…_Mai…_"

_Don't give up…_

…_don't let go…_

"..._please_…" he whispered, "…_come back…_"

The orbs of blue light appeared once again swirling around the detective…only this time they were accompanied by drifting spheres of gold. They swayed around the team and along the base of the stadium until it were as if they had completely enveloped them. The air throbbed with their very presence.

And all at once, his energy erupted out from around him. As if it had started a chan reaction, explosion after explosion burst out from the rest of his team. Their powers were hurled into the air above their heads and swirled furiously in a blazing cyclone.

They wouldn't give up on her…

_I don't care if I never get up after this…I just want her back…_

_I want her to come back…_

Yusuke slowly closed his eyes; raising his arms over the guardian's body once more. Small, pulsating halos resonated from his hands and fell into the corpse below as the orbs floating around them were drawn back towards the detective. The tiny glow spheres disappeared into his body and the _ki_ at his fingertips strengthened.

_Give all of my time to her…_

His body was screaming on the inside, but the energy continued to flow through his hands into her body. Even if it killed him, he was going to bring her back…she was never supposed to die in the first place and he was going to make sure everyone understood that…

He was going to make sure that everyone knew…

_Aishiteru…_

"…_now...let's go home…_" he murmured into the raging wind, "…_let's go home Mai_…"

Urameshi's fists clenched as a final surge of energy started to build within him. Tears of despair filled his eyes and streamed down the side of his face slowly…

And as the _chi_ continued to flow from his companions…

The aura around the guardian began to pulse.

_Please…_

"…I want to go home…"

Another beat resonated from her body and Yusuke clenched his fists further. The energy from his teammates grew more desperate now; they pushed fiercely even to the brink of their own destruction. The detective's body glowed with the ferocious energy building up within him, but his eyes would not leave her…

_Urameshi turned his head towards her and stared for a moment. As he was watching her smile, a thought occurred to him…_

_Maybe…_

…_Maybe living upside-down wasn't all too bad…_

Without her, that void would still remain…He hated that feeling of being alone and empty. He wanted her to fill that emptiness; he wanted her to come back and be with him…

He didn't want to be alone.

"…_come back…_"

_DOKUN_

"…_don't leave me Mai…_"

The energy filling him was threatening to come out all at once, but he contained it. His eyes stared off despondently at her face, as if at any moment she would simply wake up…

But he knew it would take more than that.

Yusuke raised his hands over her body a final time.

_He sighed, but said nothing. After a long, hesitant pause, the detective found himself reaching out to her. And without waiting for a reaction, his arms suddenly wrapped around her and pulled her towards his chest._

_It was almost as if she hadn't even noticed, but her sobs continued. Her tears stained his shirt, even though Urameshi didn't seem to mind. The detective wrapped his arms around her in a protective fashion just as he felt her hands clutching weakly at his shirt._

_Both of them sat in silence for the longest time—all save for Mai's muffled sobs. From a little ways off, Kira watched the pair curiously with her head cocked. Yusuke pressed her tighter to him and Mai let out a small hiccup._

"_You're…You really are hopeless you know that?" he said quietly._

The _chi _resonating from him was building in his hands. He channeled it carefully; making sure he would give it all…that none of it would be spared…

He wanted to make sure he gave it all that he had.

"I'm not giving up…" he muttered through gritted teeth and sweat beaded furiously along his brow as his hands began to pulsate with power. With everything he had, he would give a final effort…and with everything he had he would make sure it was enough…

He wasn't going to let her go…

Another pulse resonated from the aura surrounding her body.

Yusuke's fists clenched.

_DOKUN. DOKUN._

"Mai…" he whispered, "…I want you to come back, you got that? I don't want you sitting on your ass in Rekai while we do all the work…"

_Please…_

An abrupt tear raced down the side of his face and plummeted to the ground.

…_at least come back for me…_

_Aishiteru_…

It erupted from within him in one single blast. The earth trembled beneath the sudden force and cracks raced out from around the detective in all directions. With the sudden explosion of energy came the blinding ray of light that enveloped the stadium all at once.

"**_MAI!_**"

All at once, an array of all their team's emotions swirled into the air; each of their energies mixing into one. A cyclone of _chi_ raged furiously around them and spiraled high above the stadium; into the infinite sky hanging beyond.

Feelings of despair and anger…

Feelings of sorrow and joy…

…feelings of hate and love….

They grew so heavy in the air that it was almost nauseating; it was their very heart and soul that they poured out into their final effort. Their powers throbbed within the air painfully; sending shockwaves hurtling through the stadium and into the stands where many of the demons staggered to keep their balance. A tumult of wind whipped across the floor of the arena and lashed around the team furiously as it sent their energies hurtling higher and higher into the air.

The aura surrounding the guardian's body began to pulse; sending its own waves beating into the air with every ounce of energy it drew in. There was a golden haze throbbing around the corpse and her hair blew softly across her face. The _ki_ swirling around her was almost as great as the ones around her teammates. And it pulsed again as if it were a heartbeat…

Yusuke grunted as he struggled to stand his ground, but _chi_ continued to pour through his hands.

They weren't giving up…

_Not after all we've shared…I'm not letting you go that easily._

His body trembled violently with the abuse he was putting it through. But it didn't matter to him now; all that matter was that he made this final effort work—death was only just another obstacle in there way!

All at once, their powers erupted at once. The force shook the foundations of the stadium and cries of surprise rose up from the stands. Its massive tremor raced out all across the stadium and through the island itself; causing the trees beyond to tremble. The clouds above them swirled furiously around the cyclone of energy erupting from within the arena.

Urameshi's vision blurred threateningly and he felt his heart suddenly giving way.

—_Her eyes became hidden beneath her veil of crimson hair. But from within, the detective could hear her quiet sobs while her shoulders trembled. Teardrops fell from behind her hair, but she didn't seem to try and prevent them from coming._

_Yusuke slowly let go of her and her fists clenched at the ground beneath her. He watched as the tears streamed down her face; his gaze softened as she continued to cry._

_He sighed, but said nothing. After a long, hesitant pause, the detective found himself reaching out to her. And without waiting for a reaction, his arms suddenly wrapped around her and pulled her towards his chest._

_It was almost as if she hadn't even noticed, but her sobs continued. Her tears stained his shirt, even though Urameshi didn't seem to mind. The detective wrapped his arms around her in a protective fashion just as he felt her hands clutching weakly at his shirt._

_Both of them sat in silence for the longest time—all save for Mai's muffled sobs. From a little ways off, Kira watched the pair curiously with her head cocked. Yusuke pressed her tighter to him and Mai let out a small hiccup._

"_You're…You're hopeless you know that?" he said quietly.—_

—_She smiled gently and suddenly pointed upwards, "Oh look, Yusuke!" Mai cried and stared up at the sky, "It's snowing!"_

_Confused, the detective followed her gaze to find the flurries drifting down from the heavens above. The guardian smiled as the snowflakes began to flutter around them; gentling catching themselves in her locks of crimson hair.—_

Yusuke panted heavily and his body beaded with sweat. He staggered, but he refused to black out now…not when they were so close. Slowly, he felt his heart beginning to come to an end.

—"_Stop it, Yusuke!" she screamed as tears swelled within her eyes, "You're killing yourself! I can't stand it anymore, Yusuke! I can't stand the thought of you leaving me alone!"—_

"_You'll never be alone…"_

—"_You're stuck with me, remember?"—_

—_They were a team, and she would make sure it stayed that way until the end—_

—_And maybe…_

_Maybe living upside-down wasn't all too bad—_

"_Aishiteru…Yu—"_

"_KOFF-KOFF_!"

All at once, the _ki_ enveloping the stadium vanished.

…And a wave of silence immediately followed as the Urameshi team lay panting at the bottom of the arena…

Yusuke breathed heavily as his heartbeat began to fade from his ears, but his vision continued to blur. Around him, the rest of his team was panting, and all their eyes had been turned towards the body in-between them. It was the sound of their heavy breathing that broke the silence…as well as the weakened coughs coming from amidst them.

The detective's expression grew weary, "…_Mai…_"

She coughed again in pain and suddenly turned onto her stomach; clutching desperately at her chest. Another cough and blood spilled between her lips onto the earth below. The crimson liquid continued to silently trickle down the corner of her mouth as she panted into the ground; her eyes clenched tight against the pain.

Koenma's eyes grew wide from behind them.

…they…had really done it…

In the stands, Botan stood gaping with the rest of the girls, "Mai…" the ferry-girl whispered, "…she's…she's really alive…"

The guardian took in the air around her as fast as she possibly could and cautiously opened her eyes. She started suddenly as if she had realized what had happened, and shot up onto her knees. Her violet-speckled eyes darted from each member of her team frantically.

"I…I missed something—"

Without warning, arms suddenly wrapped around her shoulders and she found herself pressed gently against Yusuke's chest. She felt his body trembling beneath her and she grew silent; the fading rhythm of his heart beating in her ears.

The earth began to rumble beneath them and the stadium shuddered.

"…sai…"

She blinked slowly and Yusuke carefully pressed his head against hers; he held her closer. Strands of his hair covered his face as he bent his head towards the ground. The guardian's expression softened when she heard tears crawling at his voice.

Tears fell silently onto her shoulder and through her crimson hair. His hands trembled as he pressed her to him further.

"…_gomen nasai_…" he whispered pleadingly; his voice suddenly shaking, "…_I'm so sorry…_"

Mai slowly slipped her arms around him as tears began to form in her own eyes, "…_Yusuke_…"

_Aishiteru…_

_I told you I wouldn't give up…_

The detective suddenly went limp and slumped into her arms.

"Yusuke!" the guardian cried out as he fell into her lap. The tears filling her eyes suddenly let loose as they streamed down the side of her face, "_YUSUKE!_"

"…heh…" she heard Kuwabara's voice behind her, "Thank God you're alright…"

And one by one, the rest of her teammates slumped to the ground. Her eyes widened as she watched them lie unconscious along the floor of the arena. Around them, the earth shook again and the foundations of the stadium shuddered; bits of gravel and rubble falling from the ceiling.

Angry tears filled her eyes, "Dammit! You idiots! Now we're _all_ gonna die at the bottom of a stadium because you wasted your energy reviving me!" she shouted furiously at their comatose bodies lying around her. And as if on cue, the earth beneath them shook threateningly one again.

Behind her, Koenma smiled weakly, "I doubt even that would have stopped them," he admitted as she said there cradling the detective's body to her chest, "They were intent on bringing you back no matter what…"

"Great…" she mumbled, but wouldn't lessen her hold on Yusuke, "Now I get to be alive just in time to be _buried_ alive—way to go jackasses…"

But despite her words, tears continued to fill up her eyes and trickle down her face.

_Idiots_—

"I think we can help you out there sheila!"

Mai's head shot up suddenly and whipped around to find a familiar quartet of apparitions standing behind her.

"Ya gave Urameshi there a wee bit of a fright!" Jin said with a goofy grin plastered along his face, "Along with ta' rest of us! But lucky for you, Urameshi's dumb enough to risk bringin' ya back ta' life!"

She blinked dumbly. Rinku and Touya were already lifting Hiei between them and Chuu slung the two redheads over his shoulders quite simply as though they were potato sacks. The wind master hovered above her as if implying he would take the detective off of her hands, but she shook her head.

Koenma gently shook her shoulders, "Come on Mai…"

The guardian stared at Yusuke sadly; her eyes brimming with angry tears. They trickled along the side of her face and landed along his cheeks…

_Yusuke you dumbass…_

Without warning, his body was suddenly lifted from her lap and her head shot up. Jin smiled apologetically as he too set the detective over his shoulders. She was angrily about to protest, but was cut off suddenly when the demigod beside her lifted her off the ground (now where his body was able to support her weight was beyond her…) and into a piggy-back position along his back.

"I think you'll have plenty of time to yell at them _after_ we escape the falling stadium…" he told her with a nervous grin.

But her eyes were remained locked on the detective a moment longer…

Until she cracked a small and weary smile, "…yeah…" she said quietly.

She slowly closed her eyes…

_Thank you Yusuke…_

-:-

a/n: yeah, this chapter was ridiculously long…BUT THAT'S OKAY!

ONLY ONE CHAPTER LEFT! WHOOOOOOOO!

:nervous laugh: heh-heh, yeah while I was rereading this chapter I realized that at the part w/ Hiei yelling at Yusuke…um, yeah…Yusuke never really did have a 'collar' for him to grab on to by the end of the fight heh-heh…heh…

and if anyone was wondering why I kept re-using flashbacks…I'm lazy XD

PEACE AND LOVE


	40. Tournament's End

DISCLAIMER: I do not own YYh but all my original characters are mine.

a/n: WAAAAAAAA! It's the last chapter! T.T

But that's why we have sequels isn't it? Hehe, and since I practically took up all my weekend doing homework I'm going to take it easy now and catch up on this chapter before Anime-Hour starts! (LoL, which is basically the time where I sit on my butt half the night and watch adult swim)

I do have to warn you all though, the rating for 'Forever Fornever III' is going to be **_M_ **for certain aspects that I plan to put in—

I however, in no way support the reasons for the rating, but for the psychological crap that's going to be going on, well…

It's my muse's fault. XD

Cookies to my reviewers! (Man, but there were so little of you this time! LoL)

Fangimation: Haha, well that's what I was aiming for! And I just _had_ to have Hiei help! (but he's just so stubborn, he won't admit it to Mai later on, hehe)

Little Sakura 87: Was I that persuasive that you didn't think so? (wow, I must be getting better…) Haha, and I'm glad you didn't mind the length (_I_ was almost bothered by it XD)—Ahah! And I finally watched that one commentary! I was laughing so hard…but it made me cry a little too (jeeze I'm so lame…) And I realized something too…Chuck Huber lives in Chicago, that's like twenty minutes away from me…XD haha, I should go visit him (even though I think he moved to Texas—but that's okay!)

Shadowkitsune7: Ah, I know! But don't worry! I have full plans for a sequel right up the road!

PS: we can all assume Sakyo died when the stadium collapsed, right? 'Cause I don't feel too much like explaining that whole lot, hehe…

_Thoughts_

_Forever Fornever II_

:Tournament's End:

_Thank you, Yusuke…_

Light slowly appeared behind the cracks of his eyes and he felt a breeze pass over his hand. The detective groaned miserably and rolled over onto his stomach, only to find that his entire body was aching. Far off, he heard a seagull caw and the ocean roll onto the shore. He growled under his breath and buried his face further into his pillow—

He paused; blinking into the fabric beneath him.

A…pillow…?

Yusuke shot up off the bed (and cried out when a sharp pain raced through his body). His eyes darted around the hotel room and then towards his side where bandages wrapped around his abdomen and his arms, while there was one simply plastered along his cheek. This wasn't right…the last place he remembered was the stadium. Show how had he gotten here…?

He let his legs hang over the side of the bed and he rubbed the bridge of his nose irritably. He wondered what time it was, but found that he didn't have the strength to find out from the clock at his bedside. The detective's body ached and was stiff (he could only tell that it would probably get worse from here on out…) and he rolled back over onto the bed. Yusuke's gaze drifted wearily up to the ceiling above him and sighed; his eyes threatening to close once more.

_Tears fell silently onto her shoulder and through her crimson hair. His hands trembled as he pressed her to him further._

"…_gomen nasai…" he whispered pleadingly; his voice suddenly shaking, "…I'm so sorry…"_

Urameshi blinked slowly and turned his head towards the window. He watched as the sun penetrated the poor excuses for drapery, and how it swayed along the floor of the room. It took him a moment, but he remembered why it was that his body ached so much.

The detective gritted his teeth weakly. They had been so close…

They had been so close to actually losing her—

"URAMESHI!"

Yusuke blinked again when he heard Kazuma racing down the hall, and especially when he saw the redhead barrel through his door. He was panting and his eyes were frantic. Urameshi watched him, confused (especially since it seemed as though he hadn't bothered to change out of his fighting clothes—gross, those must've reeked like hell—)

"Forgot how to dress yourself, Kuwabara?" he wondered, despite the redhead's turmoil.

"—Not now, Urameshi!" Kazuma panted, "Mai—MAI'S NOT IN HER ROOM!"

He stared at him, "…so?"

The detective froze suddenly; _wait a minute…_

"_WHY WERE YOU IN HER ROOM, YOU DAMN PERVERT_?" he shouted, and promptly shoved his foot down Kuwabara's face (but where he suddenly found the strength to do this though…). The redhead squawked in pain as the detective continued to pound on him relentlessly, "Son of a bitch! Didn't you learn from last time?"

"I was checking to make sure she didn't die again!"

"I'm _sure_ you were!"

He stopped suddenly with his foot still compressed on Kuwabara's face and blinked. Yusuke leaned down towards Kazuma's bloodied face suspiciously.

"Hold up…_what do you mean: 'Mai's not in her room'_?"

-:-

The guardian watched as the waves lolled onto the beach and washed gently over her feet. She tucked her knees up to her chin and rested her head against them. Another wave came and brushed over her feet. She sighed heavily; her eyes drifting over the damp sand molding beneath her. Hywein lay curled up next to her just far enough away that she wouldn't get wet.

_What was it like…?_

Mai's thoughts wandered.

She had been dead…but she didn't remember anything…

Was that what death was? Was it just some suspension in a blackened void, with all thoughts stolen away forever; simply drifting. Was that what death was? She stared off vacantly at the glistening ocean. Or…or only when you refused to leave the world and you're left behind in an eternal purgatory…?

Her eyes closed slowly.

But they had saved her from that prison…they had _all_ saved her.

She smiled softly and buried her face further into her knees. Hywein yawned and flicked her tail lazily across the sand. Now that she though about it…she _did_ hear something during that time…

It was Yusuke's voice—it was all their voices, but his rose up above them all…and it was what finally brought her back. Her smile softened and she peeked open her eyes to watch the rolling ocean before her. The guardian's eyes shimmered as another set of waves washed over her feet. She wrapped her arms tightly around her legs and rubbed her eyes on her knees irritably.

"You did a good job raising a coupla stubborn-ass students…Genkai…"

The guardian's head turned to her side and smiled sadly at the stone-faced shrine a few feet away from her. Genkai's famous cap lay beside it and rustled with the ocean breeze. It had taken her almost all morning, but she had finally been able to carve out the kanji for '_Ba-san_'

She laughed softly to herself.

"But thank you…"

"Hey, it looks like somebody beat us to it, Botan…"

Mai turned just as another wave washed over her legs. From around the bend in the trees, several familiar faces come into view. As the guardian watched, she realized the quartet of girls had already been planning on creating a gravesite.

She saw Yukina wave, "Mai-_chan_!"

"You're up and about already?" Botan wondered miraculously, "Jeeze, Yusuke must be having a cow! Let's hope he cools down by the time we're ready to leave," she noted (and the guardian laughed nervously…)

The ice-apparition smiled as they approached, "Are you sure you feel well enough to be walking?" she wondered in concern, "I'm sure we'd be able to take you back to the hotel if you're not…"

"Yeah, usually after someone's died, you'd think they would be at least somewhat cautious about walking around an island full of killer demons," Shizuru put casually somehow.

The guardian smiled nervously and sweatdropped, "Nope, I feel fine…"

"Are you sure?" Keiko asked this time.

She stood and brushed the sand off of her pants and turned to them, grinning, "Yup—I'm sure," she insisted as Hywein leapt onto her shoulder. Mai smiled, but it faded abruptly when she realized that the ferry-girl across from her was grinning nervously in a rather suspicious manner…

"What?"

Botan gestured down the beach, still grinning, "You're probably not going to be for long, though…"

Mai blinked, "Mm—?"

"YO! BITCH!"

The guardian turned just in time to find Yusuke barreling towards her. He was furiously attempting to tug on a pair of jeans as he ran across the beach, as if he had just gotten out of bed, but seemed to be having difficulty as he nearly fell face-forward into the sand. He swore under his breath, and Kuwabara appeared running up behind him.

Shizuru snorted and lifted a cigarette to her mouth, "Well looks like Yusuke's glad to see you're alive…"

Mai sweatdropped again; it seemed slightly ironic that the detective was swearing angrily after practically dying to bring her back…

Well, so much for being grateful…

"You could at least _act_ like you value your life!" he shouted towards her, "Walking around a demon-filled island is not a way to—!"

He was cut off suddenly when Kuwabara trampled him from behind. The detective landed face-down into the beach as the redhead continued to race forward.

"Mai! Mai you're alright, right? You haven't died again? Are you sure? You can't just go walking around here! Hah, I Kazuma Kuwabara will protect you—and my precious Yukina of course!"

The redhead continued rambling and Mai just blinked, the spirit beast at her shoulder had nearly the same expression. From behind him, Yusuke was steadily beginning to recover. He grimaced as he raised himself out of the hole in the sand, he was watched Kazuma warily with a cocked eyebrow as he made his way towards the group.

"Since when has Kuwabara been more worried about Mai than me?" he wondered to the blue-haired ferry-girl next to him.

She grinned and lifted a finger matter-of-factly, "I believe that would have been when he started sleeping outside her room at night!" the detective glared suddenly as she continued with a cheerful smile, "Must've had something to do with her little death-sequence the other day…"

He frowned but she didn't seem to notice.

Botan tapped her chin thoughtfully, "I would think that it was because he feels guilty—or something to that extent. I think I even caught a little guilt off of Hiei…" she added off-handedly.

"That doesn't make sense," he muttered, "Why the hell should _Kuwabara_ be feeling guilty?"

The detective scowled suddenly when she hit him over the head, "Idiot. Besides to you, he was the next person who even had a chance to stop Toguro from killing Mai. I suppose that really got to him that he wasn't able to do anything," she narrowed her eyes suddenly towards him, "Now why _you_ don't feel the same is beyond me…"

"Oi! Don't tell _me_ about that!" he argued irritably, "—And you!" he turned swiftly towards Kuwabara, who was still going on and on about who knows what, "_You_ need to go badger the hell out of someone else!"

Kazuma froze in mid-sentence from his rambling, "Hey, at least I'm showing some concern!" he told him.

Yusuke's eye ticked, "_Nani?_ What's that supposed to mean?" the detective demanded furiously.

But before he could answer, Urameshi had kicked him in the face. And in another instant, the two of them were suddenly tackling each other into the sand. The group of girls around them sweatdropped nervously while they punched one another in the face—if anyone had happened to be keeping track for some reason, Yusuke appeared to be winning…

The guardian watching sighed and ran her hand through her hair, "Idiots…"

"HEY!"Shizuru's voice suddenly barked. She appeared between the two boys; her hands gripping angrily at their collars, "Who the hell told you that you could dance around on someone's grave, eh?"

They stopped right in the middle of a punch (although Yusuke's had managed to make contact) and stared at one another in confusion. That is, until they noticed the block of stone sitting a little ways away from them…and they grew quiet. Mai noticed an immediate reaction from the detective as his expression dropped.

Shizuru let both of them go and brushed off her hands in satisfaction.

Urameshi sat with his legs crossed and his fists in his lap. He was quiet for a long time.

"Heh…" he forced a wry smile, "I almost forgot about you, Grandma…"

-:-

"Uh, um…sir?" Jorge poked his head through the large wooden doors into the demigod's office. He seemed oddly nervous as he glanced around the giant room. Koenma lifted his head as the ogre appeared in the doorway, "He's…he's here…"

His eyes narrowed slightly, "Send him in…" he replied and the ogre nodded diligently as he disappeared behind the doors. There was a moment where it was silent before those doors opened a second time…only now there was someone different standing in the entryway.

Koenma raised his eyes towards the doors where his visitor stood with his hands tucked calmly into his pockets. The demigod watched as Jorge closed the doors and the man made his way forward.

He sighed, "Let's just get this sorted out, shall we Toguro?"

The apparition said nothing as he rustled through a stack of papers carefully. Koenma paused on a few of them for a while before he finally set the stack down and sighed again.

"A place for you Toguro…" he rubbed the bridge of his nose wearily, "I think…if we examine the facts, there really—"

"That won't be necessary."

The demigod blinked and turned towards Toguro slowly. His expression was unreadable from behind his sunglasses, but something told Koenma that it was the same stone-faced expression that was so familiar. He frowned as he folded his hands together out in front of him.

"I beg to differ," the toddler told him, "You're case is so complex; it'll difficult deciding where to place you…"

Toguro's eyes flashed behind his glasses but his expression remained the same, "I've already made my choice…" he told him:

"I want you to sentence me to Limbo."

Koenma frowned darkly as he studied the apparition before him, "You do realize what that is…don't you?" the man in front of him said nothing, "Every part of you will be sliced away for thousands of years…except your ability to experience pain. Toguro, when weighing your demonic crimes and your human achievements—you only deserve a slight punishment. Limbo isn't necessary!"

But the apparition didn't even flinch…and his appearance remained stone-cold. A tension-filled silence rose up around them, and still Toguro said nothing.

With a heavy sigh, Koenma slowly reached for the stamp sitting at his side.

"Then if there is no persuading you…"

The apparition narrowed his eyes, but he didn't say a word. Koenma raised the stamp regrettably.

"I sentence you to ten-thousand years in Limbo."

Toguro watched as the stamp fell. And as the red ink stained the page before the demigod, a small, sad smile crept over the apparition's face. When Koenma ordered the ogre to escort him out, the words echoed with emptiness throughout his mind. He turned back towards the giant doors and strode through them and into the darkened hallway.

The demigod sighed heavily and rubbed his temple.

"Koenma, sir…"

He lifted his head and turned just in time to see Ayame walk through beside him. She was holding yet another stack of papers and read through them briefly before turning towards the demigod.

"Sir, I found the information you requested…" she told him quietly, but also made a small frown, "But it's odd, sir; from what I found, Toguro had every reason to despise apparitions or at least to fight them. And yet when his team won the tournament the last time…he wished that he could become one himself…"

The demigod was staring off at the doors in front of him. He was silent for a long time before he hopped down from his chair and made his way across the room. Ayame followed obediently.

"Sir?"

They stopped at a balcony overlooking the Reikai realm. The ferry-girl glanced over the edge to find a lone figure making their way towards the large gates surrounding them. Beside her, Koenma was quiet as he too watched the apparition.

Ayame blinked suddenly when she heard the demigod let out a snort of laughter.

"That son of a bitch had us all fooled…" he said dryly, "Someway or another, he had this all planned out…even before the tournament."

He grew silent again as the giant gate opened to let the apparition pass through.

Koenma folded his hands behind his back and sighed now, "I think the only thing he _hadn't_ planned on, was probably Mai," he told her with a grim smile, "…Personally, I don't think he had any actual intention of killing her—at first that is. But when she said that she would make Yusuke stronger, he couldn't resist…"

The ferry-girl watched him, "Why's that, sir?" she wondered.

She saw him staring as the gates closed behind Toguro, "Because…he legitimately wanted to be beaten by someone stronger than himself; the more powerful Yusuke became, all the better for him," his voice held an air of bitterness, "I guess it was his own way of repenting somehow: to finally be killed by someone stronger…"

With a muffled _slam_ the gates closed shut and Toguro was standing alone on the outside of Reikai. All around him, roads stretched into the infinite expanse of space and twisted through the air and down in the depths below him. There were arches that draped over the sky above and plummeted into the unknown. Orbs of light drifted past the apparition and floated up higher into the air into several cloud-like formations.

As he stood alone, a deathly silence filled the air. There was no wind to moan across the paths…or any beings to whisper to him in disgust. He glanced a final time over the world around him before he calmly placed his hand in his pocket and steadily made his way across the strip of earth at his feet. It was almost as if he was apathetic towards his destiny in the pits of hell…

He treaded calmly down the road for a while longer; the only noise to greet him in the unearthly silence being the scuffing of his feet along the dirt.

Toguro's sunglasses flashed and he stopped suddenly. He lifted his eyes towards the burning, temple-like structure before him and the eerie smoke that enveloped its gates.

But that wasn't why he stopped.

A faint smile picked at the corner of his lips as a single figure emerged from the haze. They stopped when they had been cleared of the smoke and watched the apparition forlornly.

"Hm…" his eyes flickered, "Did you come to say your goodbyes…

"…Genkai?"

-:-

Yusuke kicked his feet up on the table and ran his fingers through his hair, "Well that's all the quiet staring I can handle," he said suddenly breaking the silence amongst them.

They sat together in the lobby, but none of them had said a word for the longest time—that is, until the detective had broken the tension filling out between them. Onlookers from the tournament busied past them with their bags as they made their way towards the docks so they could board the final ferries back home. The Urameshi team sat around a single table in silence. The boys sat with there coats over their shoulders while Mai sufficed with a trench coat that Kurama had let her borrow.

The detective rocked on the heel of his chair, "After all this time it's gonna feel weird not fearing for my life…" he mused off-handedly as he watched another group of spectators walk past.

Beside him, Kuwabara let out a short laugh, "Don't sweat it Urameshi. I can beat you up at school every day if it makes you feel better."

"Yusuke's right," Kurama cut in quietly as the detective let out a snort of amusement, "Normal life for all of us will seem pale for awhile…"

They all grew silent again and didn't make eye contact with one another.

It was awhile before any of them spoke, "I wonder what's taking those girls so long," Kazuma said under his breath as if he was trying to change the subject, "If they make us wait any longer, we're gonna get left!"

"Not everyone packed just one set of clothes," the other redhead assured him.

Kuwabara scowled slightly, "It's just like family vacations. My dumb sister's always making us late…probably plucking her mustache—"

"—should I tell them about your Fluffy Doll, Kazuma?"

The redhead rocketed out of his chair as Shizuru's face appeared beside his own. Kurama calmly stood and moved out of his chair to let Kuwabara land safely into it. He paled in horror when he realized his sister had heard what he said.

"Ah, uh no—no! I was just saying how pretty you are, sis!" he insisted nervously while the rest of the girls appeared behind Shizuru. At once they all apologized for being late and grinned.

"PUU!"

Yusuke glanced up as the spirit beast flapped eagerly towards him. He grabbed it out of the air before it could hurt itself, "Hey. There you are, you're all right, Puu," he assured as it struggled impatiently in his grasp, but he held tight, "I didn't think you'd ever come back after Genkai started talking through you…"

At this Mai gave him an odd look, but he conveniently didn't notice.

"Hey, you're kind of like a telephone to the other side aren't you?" he asked the spirit beast casually while his teammates watched him carefully, "Well what are you waiting for, operator? Patch me into Grandma! Come on! Which side's your receiver?" Puu squealed unhappily, "What? You'll do it for her but not for me—?"

"Stop it, Yusuke…" Kurama said quietly, "It's not possible anymore."

The detective stopped and turned towards the akage as Puu pecked angrily at his finger, "What do you mean?"

He sighed heavily, "Genkai made contact in Reikai…the land between the living world and the land of the dead."

Kuwabara blinked, "But I thought people went to Spirit World when they died?"

"They do," Kurama answered, "But for a time. Reikai is just a starting point where there are many roads to take into the world of the dead. Master Genkai's was a priority case…she has probably already departed to the land of the dead—from which there is no contact."

The group grew silent. Yusuke stared at the spirit beast in his hand and absently set it free as he folded his arms over his chest. Mai was watching him nervously from behind the detective's hooded eyes and noticed how his knuckles tightened over the fabric of his coat.

_Yusuke—_

"_Fine_!" Urameshi suddenly shot out of his seat; startling everyone at the table, "You heard fox boy! There's nothing we can do for the old hag if she's already limp. Just gotta keep truckin', yes sir!" he stormed around them towards the front doors of the hotel, "I'm gonna go outside and make myself a nice, big, shiny first place medal, sit in the sun and have a stupendous freaking day, _dammit_!"

The lobby jumped as he slammed open the door with a kick of his foot and trampled outside.

"Well alright, Urameshi would you go make me a medal too?" Kazuma called after him.

Hiei snorted and folded his arms over his chest, "He's so deep in his repression that even _I _feel sorry for him…" he admitted with a hint of dry amusement.

Mai blinked in surprise and then suspiciously turned towards Kurama.

"…'Fox-boy'?" she wondered.

-:-

The detective angrily shoved his hands into his pockets as he plodded down the stretch of beach. The waves rolled over his shoes, but he ignored it even as the water soaked his feet. His eyes were downcast and didn't move from the sand beneath him.

He sighed suddenly and plopped down onto the beach. Yusuke crossed his legs and noticed out of the corner of his eye, a crab scurry back underneath the sand hurriedly. He shoved his jacket closer around him and frowned out over the ocean. The detective's gaze darkened as another wave rolled over his feet, and he slowly recoiled from the water.

_Stupid old hag…_

A seagull cawed above him.

And a little ways off, he heard someone else walking along the sand.

Urameshi turned his head slightly, but his eyes still remained glued onto the ocean before him. Even so, he didn't even have to turn to see who it was. There was a flash of red hair beside him and Mai was squatting in the sand. She rocked on the balls of her feet and wrapped her arms around her knees. The guardian said nothing, but followed Yusuke's gaze out over the sea.

They sat in nothing but silence for the longest time. The detective was rigid from the tension, but Mai didn't seem to notice and tucked her head into her knees.

He noticed that she turned her head towards him for a moment. After a pause, she frowned.

Out of the blue, she suddenly tugged down on his collar and the detective nearly fell over in surprise, "Hey! _Hey!_" he shouted as a fierce blush burned at his cheeks, "What the hell do you think your doing?"

She didn't say anything as she let his collar fall back into place. The guardian once more wrapped her hands around her knees and stared at the waves rolling onto the beach. One of the waves made it up to her and soaked the edges of Kurama's coat.

"_Baka_…" she said under her breath, "….you lost it."

Yusuke blinked at her in confusion, "_Nani_?" he wondered, "What are you talking about?"

The guardian didn't answer him and he puffed out his cheeks irritably. He should have expected…she was going to make him figure it out on his own. Urameshi swore inwardly; he was never good at guessing—that was the reason he failed science in sixth grade.

He thought hard for a long time; frowning over the ocean when he couldn't figure it out.

Urameshi blinked again. He turned back towards the guardian and saw her frowning unhappily at the sand.

"You don't mean that glass-tubey-thing, do you?" he asked her in disbelief, "Hell, what did you expect? We've been fighting this entire time, it was bound to—"

"I _expected_ you to take the stupid thing off when you fought!" she said, suddenly turning towards him, "What kind of idiot leaves that kind of thing on when he's fighting in a _demon tournament_?"

He blinked; stricken abruptly into silence.

She had a good point…

The detective turned again when he heard her sigh. He noticed that her frown had turned into something of a sad one.

"…and that was the only copy of that picture I had," she said unhappily.

He watched her as Mai stared off into the sea. There was another gull that cried above them and dipped down towards the water, before it suddenly pulled back up again. The guardian rocked back and forth slowly as she flicked a pebble into the waves.

After a long moment of silence, Yusuke snorted and folded his arms across his chest. The guardian blinked and turned her attention back towards him.

"Keh…" he said quietly with a small grin, "Only _you_ would be angry about a stupid picture after you had almost died…" he laughed softly and smirked towards her, "You need to learn how to set your priorities straight, Mai."

Her face suddenly contorted as she struggled not to punch him in the face.

…But of course it was bound to happen sooner or later.

The detective collided with the sand as Mai's fist made contact with his face, "IDIOT! You owe me another photo-op!" she roared furiously.

_Click!_

Both of them blinked in unison and turned.

Botan stood grinning and was waving a camera in front of her, "Wish granted!" she chimed while the other members of their team appeared behind her. Yusuke and Mai stood in a stunned confusion for a moment before they blinked and finally returned to their senses.

"That's not exactly what I meant, Botan…" the guardian told her.

The ferry-girl smiled brightly, "Well I'm sure if you don't want it, I'll be more than happy to give it to Koenma-sama as a little gift!"

"_Give me that!_" Yusuke muttered as he stood and snatched the camera from her hands. She blinked, but before she could protest, the detective turned and suddenly chucked it into the ocean. With a small _plop_ it disappeared beneath the surface.

Mai kicked him in the back, "URAMESHI! WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU? You just owed me another photo, you idiot!"

"_NANI?_" he recovered almost immediately, "You said you didn't want it! _MAKE UP YOUR DAMN MIND!_"

"You should have kept that one, Botan," Shizuru said calmly and she took her cigarette from her mouth while the other two teens bickered back and forth, "Who knows what'll happen when we they stop beating on one another—hell, that might as well be a sign of the apocalypse," she added as she let a puff of smoke drift into the air.

A little ways off, Hiei snorted, "Along with Kuwabara being smart," he muttered under his breath, but the redhead heard him and whirled.

"You got somethin' to say shorty?" he demanded angrily but the apparition sent him a glare that made him close his mouth.

A blow horn suddenly sounded from off shore. The group stopped (Mai with her foot in Yusuke's back; pinning him into the sand) and they all turned towards the sea. The steamer blared again as it appeared off shore a little ways off.

"Hey! Our boat's here!" Kazuma shouted as Mai started to let Urameshi up out of the beach.

Yusuke brushed the sand of his hair and sat cross-legged on the ground, "Heh…back to ditching school…" he said grinning—even as Mai and Keiko sent him several dangerous glares that he appeared to be ignoring at all costs.

"And video games," Kuwabara added as he placed his hands behind his head.

The apparition next to him snorted, "Back to various crimes," he mused darkly.

They all watched as the boat drew steadily closer. Yusuke stood and brushed off his pants; placing his hands calmly into his pockets as he stared out over the vast expanse of sea. He stretched and glanced around the group a final time.

"Well what the hell are we all standing around for?" he asked, "I wanna get my ass back home already!"

Everybody looked at him before they all smiled in unison.

"RIGHT!"

"…Well excuse _me_ if I'm a little insulted."

Both Urameshi and Mai blinked. Simultaneously, they looked at one another curiously while the same look of confusion passed over everyone else's face as well. One by one, they managed to glance at one another as if someone had a clue.

The detective slowly began to turn.

"_That voice_…"

The rest of their team followed his lead and turned back to face the island behind him. Sunlight darted through the trees and cast a hazy glow across the floor of the woods. They all squinted through the glow as a single silhouette appeared against the sun. A single wave of silence swept over them when the wind shifted and that shadow became clear.

A wizened grin appeared along their face, "You just gonna leave the old fossil behind?"

It was both a rush of relief and a wave of shock that raced through them all, as despite themselves, they all grinned in turn.

And for Botan, tears abruptly filled in her eyes, "_Master Genkai!_"

Tripping over each other, they all raced towards the old woman standing—almost smugly—beneath the veil of trees. All of them that is, except for Yusuke—who stood dumbfounded on the spot; his mouth hung gaping wide while the rest of his team surrounded the old woman cheerfully.

Smiles rose up all around the group, but the detective only continued to stare in disbelief…

…_It couldn't be…_

"Hn," Genkai snorted as her eyes flickered towards him in amusement, "Must've rubbed off on me, dimwit. I died just like you:" she smirked calmly, "…half-assed."

He stood there watching her for a long time…

Before a grin grew along his face as well. He instantly dropped his bag onto the beach and raced forward towards her and the rest of his team.

"_Ba-san!_ Come here you beautiful hag!"

-:-

The waves crashed rhythmically against the side of the boat; rocking the vessel with a steady push every now and then. Hanging Neck Island was now long gone and had finally dipped behind the horizon as they pushed onward back to the mainland. All across the ship, their teammates stood strewn about: Yusuke and Kuwabara busied themselves by pecking unsuspecting tourists on the head with peanut shells they had stolen from the galley, while Hiei watched them suspiciously out of the corner of his eye. On the other side of the ship, Botan and the other girls stood leaning over the edge of the boat and Genkai sat with her eyes closed and her arms crossed over her chest.

Another blast came from the depths of the liner and the boat lurched forward with a push from the engines. A seagull cawed from above them; signaling the nearing port. It was shortly followed by an angry cry from one of the tournament's onlookers when Yusuke hit him square in the eye.

Kurama leaned on the railing surrounding the deck and watched the waves crash into the side of the ship. The ocean churned beneath him.

He held a single slip of paper between his fingers. It flapped restlessly in the wind whipping around the boat, but he held on to it tight. His emerald eyes were distant as he stared at it; as if he was hopelessly lost in his thoughts.

"_/You know…/_" came that all too familiar voice. There was a hint of a smirk in his tone as he sat calmly in the back of the akage's mind, "_/She would have never done that…if it wasn't for him…/_"

His hand clenched around the railing furiously; his knuckles turning white, "_Ursai…_"

Youko smirked, "_/It's true though…you know it…/_

"_/It's all his fault—/_"

"Kurama-kun?"

The akage stiffened and suddenly shoved the slip of paper into his pocket as Youko's voice vanished from his mind. He turned as calmly as he could away from the churning ocean towards the guardian standing behind him. A look of worry passed over her face when he turned to face her, and she took a small step forward.

She smiled weakly all of a sudden and rubbed the back of her neck, "Sorry, Kurama-kun," she said to him, "You just seemed worried; I wanted to make sure you were feeling alright."

He watched her for a moment without saying anything…

…_she died to save him…_

Mai blinked, "Kurama-kun?"

"No," he shook his head slowly and forced a small smile, "No, I'm fine…Just a little tired I suppose…" he admitted and placed his hands into the pockets of his coat.

The guardian studied him as if she wasn't entirely convinced. But after a paused she nodded and smiled, "Alrighty! If you say so! I was just checking on you, Kurama-kun."

She smiled again and turned as if she were going back to stand with Keiko and the others. Kurama stared after her before he suddenly lowered his gaze and his eyes became hooded beneath a veil of his crimson hair. From within his pockets, his fists clenched slowly.

"…why…why do you call me that?"

Mai turned back curiously towards him. She noticed that he tried to avoid her gaze as he stared off darkly at the sea next to him. The guardian stood there for a long time, so that a deep tension filled out between them. A gust of wind blew at their feet as she contemplated his query.

He turned his head further from her, "Why do you call me that?" he asked again, louder this time.

She stared at him, "….b-because it's your name…" she answered quietly, as if she didn't understand why he was asking her, "I never really thought about it though; it just seemed to fit, I suppose…"

"_/She forgot about you…so she could die for him…/_"

Kurama was quiet for a long time; his eyes growing even more distant than before, "…have I done something wrong, Mai…?" he asked softly, "…is that why you refer to me like that?"

This suddenly caught her off guard. There was a brief flash of hurt that crossed over her eyes as if it pained her to think that he thought about it in that way…She had never thought about it; it just seemed to have worked out somehow…

The guardian noticed his fists tighten in his pockets, "…what did I do—?"

"…Kurama…"

His eyes suddenly flickered towards her. Something in her voice forced him to look up and see the tears filling in her eyes. Her own fists clenched at her side as she tried to force the tears back and she lowered her head to face the ground beneath her.

"Kurama…" she said again; her voice shaking dangerously as she forced a poor excuse of a smile, "I…I'll just call you Kurama now, alright? Then it'll be okay…it'll be okay if I just call you Kurama, right?"

The akage's gaze softened suddenly when he saw a tear trickle down the side of her face.

But before it could reach her chin, his hand reached out and caught it on the tip of his finger. Mai clenched her eyes shut furiously as she tried with all her might to stop the rest of the tears from falling. She hadn't meant to make him feel like that…she hadn't meant for him to feel as though he had done something wrong—

"Don't cry…"

Kurama had his head lowered now too. But before she could let another tear fall down her face, the akage suddenly gripped her by the shoulders and pressed her to him.

"Please…" he whispered quietly, "…please don't cry, Mai…"

_I love you…_

He pressed his cheek against her hair, "…I won't make you cry again…"

_I won't give up on you…_

"_/You'll never win, Kurama…/_"

"…_please don't cry_…"

PART II: FÍN

-:-

a/n: WAAAAAAAA! It's all done T.T

But yay sequels! (And please remember to note that it _will_ be rated **M**—so if you're at all offended by that, I'm sorry to lose you as my devoted reader!)

If any of you were wondering what the hell was going on with that last part (or at least what Kurama meant by all that "why do you call me that?" stuff) he was referring to the fact that she uses honorifics for only his name (for the most part out of everyone else) Haha, but my friend and I decided that it would be kind of funny for that last scene if Kurama had been in Furuba and changed into Youko when he hugged Mai XD

Man, those are really interesting lunch conversations—like the one we had on YuYu Hakusho phobias!

Yusuke: phobia of cars

Kurama: phobia of hair salons

Hiei: phobia of the eye doctor

Kuwabara: phobia of Hiei

And then of course we came up with the revelation that all of the characters (including Mai, and except Kuwabara) have MPD—or Multiple Personality Disorder…which is kind of scary…

Well!

I guess it's only fair to say that I'll see you all soon in: Forever Fornever III! And please feel free to IM me anytime you feel like it! Especially during this little lapse in between stories XD (if it's not on my profile, my sn is JesusFrk3041)

Until then—

PEACE AND LOVE (and hugs, kisses, and moonlit nights :3)


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